I haven’t been grocery shopping in five weeks. No, I’m not that person who only goes out every six months and buys $3000 in groceries. I’m that person who wants to learn to eat seasonally. Truly seasonally, even when winter makes it hard.
You see, I spent much of the summer growing, farmers marketing, and preserving food so that we could eat seasonally this winter. I dehydrated and fermented vegetables, put away dozens of squash and bushels of potatoes and turnips. And then at the the end of November we decided we would stock up on a few things we aren’t able to put up ourselves yet, like grass-fed beef and (ahem) chocolate.
Now that we are over halfway through our project, I am really starting to ration some things. And do you know what has been one of the most important parts of making sure we stay nourished and don’t wear down our supplies? Menu planning.
Spring is a mad dash to get everything in the ground and we eat whatever I can scramble together (sometimes literally). Summer is abundant and so whatever is being harvested determines our day-to-day eating. Fall is another mad dash to preserve and put up anything and everything I can grow or get at the farmer’s market so menu planning is not a priority.
But winter takes preparation, planning, and forethought. I even wrote a book about how we eat seasonally during the winter.
To be fair, winter makes this hard, but menu planning, and Plan to Eat, make it possible.
Do you eat seasonally during the winter?
