Drip, Drip, Drop Little April Showers...

The thunder woke me at 5:00 this morning. We had a nice long rain, which was much needed. I've been hand-watering the garden everyday. I hate watering, although it does give me time to stand and ponder what to stick in the ground next. This week I've transplanted lettuce, planted potatoes, english peas, snow peas, carrots and shallots. I spent a lot of time lining the aisles with layers of newspaper (which I've been hoarding all winter) and then adding a layer of mulch. The corn area is primed and waiting, as is the first row for green beans and Jacob's Cattle beans. My next chore is prepping the tomato beds. I don't yet trust the weather with those little babies. They are hanging out in the garage under lights and have all been transplanted into larger pots (styrofoam cups!)

EAT LOCAL CHALLENGE

The Eat Local Challenge is in May. Jamie got me hooked last year. May is a little early in the mountains to find all our usual favorites, but we are game to try. Big Daddy and I decided we would aim for one meal a day to be totally local and try to search out other local fare as our schedules allow. This will be a wonderful challenge to find things in their season to munch on. Luckily, the farmers' and tailgate markets are all starting up and we will be able to locate lots of goodies. We are lucky that Asheville and the surrounding areas have some wonderful growers. Last year the Challenge really encouraged me to locate food grown in my area. It also inspired me to grow even more varied produce, can and store more of my own food. I've met some fascinating people that I probably wouldn't have had the chance to meet, had I not been looking for local farmers and food artisans.

We will mainly be focusing on Western North Carolina, but will get some things from the rest of the state and South Carolina. We are also including Bath County, Virginia. Big Daddy is working on a rather large project up there and has been spending at least half of the week up there. He's located some really good sources for locally grown foods and for us it's semi-local. I was thinking awfully hard about coffee. I am addicted to caffeine and need that morning cup. Big Daddy saved the day. He's also working on a project in Cherokee, NC with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee and he came across Tribal Grounds Coffee. There's another reason to love the man...

The sun has come out and I must get back into the garden for awhile. I just finished baking a lovely blueberry/blackberry cobbler made with the last of last summer's berries and two loaves of Oatmeal Porter Bread to take to dinner with the Bishop tonight. "Dinner with the Bishop" sounds so hoity toity, but it's not...trust me. Oh and I have to go keep Monkey under control as it is spring break and she's itching to get into trouble...