Step 8: Count Your Blessings

Since returning to Columbus in mid-August, I have felt that this local foods project has been moving slowly. However, looking in our (new!) chest freezer after this weekend gave me a renewed sense of accomplishment.

To date, we've frozen the following:
- Over 40 pounds of tomatoes (and counting)
- Nearly three dozen ears of corn
- A half-bushel of half-runner beans
- Three 3-quart bags of strawberries
- About 8 or 9 pounds of blueberries
- About a quart of raspberries (and counting)

We also have been consumers of the following local stuff:
- Honey (produced by bees kept by Barbara's friend, Caroline)
- Flour (grown and milled in Ohio, available in bulk at the Co-op)
- Potatoes (grown on a nearby Ohio farm, bought at the co-op)
- Maple syrup from the state of Ohio
- Milk (from the Snowville Creamery, 100 miles away in Pomeroy, OH, available at our local Co-op)
- Cheese and butter (Amish-made at the Minerva Cheese Factory, 140 miles away in Minerva, OH, available at the Co-op)
- Eggs (Free-range from Holistic Acres, 79 miles away in Ashland, OH, available at the co-op)
- Tomatoes (locally grown and available at the Co-op)
- Watermelon (locally grown and available at the Co-op)
- A variety of fruits and veggies from the Co-op and Farmers' Markets