Leda’s Urban Homestead

Happy New Year!

The January chill means I think twice before carrying my compost pail out to the bin. I look out through the window and think, surely I could cram a few more scraps in before I need to empty the pail?

I am starting the new decade with several challenges on my plate. A commission I was counting on for next month’s rent fell through at the last minute. The pipes in my apartment froze last night (tonight I’ve got running hot water but no cold) and I still haven’t heard back from my landlord. And so it goes.

Lost jobs and frozen pipes notwithstanding, there’s a reason January, February, and March have traditionally been called “the wolf months.” If the wolf is going to show up at your door, this is the time you’re likely to hear his noisy breath and his scratchy pawing. There are no new crops coming in now if you live in a cold winter climate. (Well, there might be some greenhouse and cold frame stuff, but that’s limited.) Mostly what you’ve got is what you got last year during the growing season.

I’d be living out of my pantry for the most part at this time of year even if I wasn’t in a financial crunch. I’ve decided not to spend any money on food this month except for milk (which I also turn into yogurt and cream cheese), coffee (not remotely local, I know, sorry), and what I already prepaid for my monthly CSA winter share.

Usually I’ve looked at my food preservation hobby as, among other things, a way to add variety to my winter diet. Can it also keep me alive if I’m counting on it as my primary source of food?

So far, so good. Here’s what I ate today:

Fried egg, toast with butter and peach marmalade. (Made the bread with a combo of Wild Hive Farm’s Bread Flour and Cayuga Pure Organic’s Half White Flour)

Apple (last one I’ll be munching fresh. Apples are starting to lose their crunch after months in storage, so I’ll be moving on to dried, applesauce, etc.)

Sausage-kale-white bean soup (kale was from blanched and in my freezer, sausage and beans in freezer as well)

Wild mushroom “risotto” (used Cayuga Pure Organic’s freekah grain instead of rice. Mushrooms were wild, foraged ones I dried last fall)

Salad with blue cheese and pumpkin seeds

Popcorn

I’m granting myself one more food shopping exemption: there’s a new indoor winter market starting next week just a few blocks from me and I want to show up and support. Just a cabbage or some such, okay? There might be a new winter venue for local foods near you. You can find out more here.

As for how my wolf month pantry adventure turns out, stay tuned…

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Botany, Ballet, & Dinner from Scratch: A Memoir with Recipes by Leda Meredith