Food and garden update
Jun. 11th, 2020 07:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
A few weeks ago,
siderea posted a query Prep/Pandemic: How y'all doing with sourcing food and groceries?. To date, 111 people have responded. I don't see the need to add to that comment thread, but I thought I'd post my own update.
I'm grateful that I was already supplied (on
siderea's advice) when everyone suddenly stocked up all at once. I could just stay home and wait it out. I'm grateful that Oregon's infection rate has been low (so far), so it's not that much of a risk to shop for food on an ongoing basis.
Mask + glasses + biking + rain is a bad combination, but I'll figure it out over time. I like to just put on the mask before I leave home and then not mess with it, even though most people don't wear masks while out walking or biking here.
Tl;dr Farmers markets and large bag of rice for the win.
When we were ramping up to quarantine, I was worried about large scale interruptions in supply chains. I was trying to figure out how to keep 2 weeks supply of food in the house while consuming it on an ongoing basis. At this point, it looks like the supply chains are doing ok, especially since I try to buy locally grown food whenever possible, so I'm less concerned with having a big backlog of food.
The farmers markets continue to operate in a socially distanced manner. There's a lot more waiting in line and people are more stressed, and at the same time I'm grateful to preserve that part of my routine and support the farms I was supporting and get the food I'm used to getting. I'm currently going every two weeks instead of every week.
New Seasons (local upscale grocery chain) has strong social distancing in place. The employees are friendly, but the customers are notably entitled and unpleasant about standing in line, wearing masks, etc. I've been a few times, but I'm currently stocked up on what I get there and not planning on going back for a while.
One of the things that did go out of stock and I haven't seen come back is Lundberg rice in 2 lb. bags. Fortunately a New Seasons employee ordered a 25 lb bag for me, so I am set for rice for quite a while. I had tried getting rice at Trader Joe's instead, but my body reacted to it as if it's cross-contaminated with gluten.
Trader Joe's also has reasonably strong social distancing in place. They seem to be the reverse - customers behave reasonably in line, but employees can be obnoxious. I've been buying energy bars there. I keep wanting to find an alternative snack that's cheaper and possibly better for me, but I haven't been able to make that work.
I occasionally go to the local co-op. It's a small store, and they're trying, but it's hard to be socially distanced in there. Some of the workers are so busy being earthy crunchy hippie enlightened that they can't listen to the person standing in front of them. (This problem predates the pandemic.) Since it's collectively managed, there's no way to give feedback to the people who work there. I have pointed out that this is a problem. I used to be super enthusiastic about the place years ago, but I'm going there less and less. It might be middle-aged woman invisibility syndrome, and I just don't need that.
The garden is doing well. Hood strawberries are bigger and more abundant this year after clearing more room for them, feeding them with compost, and watering regularly. Looks like I'll get a few blueberries this year, not as many as last year. The raspberries are in a shaded corner and haven't started bearing yet, but they bear all summer.
Snap peas are just starting to come in. Bean plants are just now reaching my makeshift string trellis. Cilantro is growing well and I'm harvesting some regularly for stirfry. I bought a thai basil start that may or may not grow faster than its leaves are being eaten by bugs. So far the italian basil start is doing better. Dill is growing well from seeds. I see the first romanesco zucchini growing on the biggest plant (out of 4). Have to keep an eye on it and pick it before it gets too big.
How's it going for your food gathering and garden growing?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I'm grateful that I was already supplied (on
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Mask + glasses + biking + rain is a bad combination, but I'll figure it out over time. I like to just put on the mask before I leave home and then not mess with it, even though most people don't wear masks while out walking or biking here.
Tl;dr Farmers markets and large bag of rice for the win.
When we were ramping up to quarantine, I was worried about large scale interruptions in supply chains. I was trying to figure out how to keep 2 weeks supply of food in the house while consuming it on an ongoing basis. At this point, it looks like the supply chains are doing ok, especially since I try to buy locally grown food whenever possible, so I'm less concerned with having a big backlog of food.
The farmers markets continue to operate in a socially distanced manner. There's a lot more waiting in line and people are more stressed, and at the same time I'm grateful to preserve that part of my routine and support the farms I was supporting and get the food I'm used to getting. I'm currently going every two weeks instead of every week.
New Seasons (local upscale grocery chain) has strong social distancing in place. The employees are friendly, but the customers are notably entitled and unpleasant about standing in line, wearing masks, etc. I've been a few times, but I'm currently stocked up on what I get there and not planning on going back for a while.
One of the things that did go out of stock and I haven't seen come back is Lundberg rice in 2 lb. bags. Fortunately a New Seasons employee ordered a 25 lb bag for me, so I am set for rice for quite a while. I had tried getting rice at Trader Joe's instead, but my body reacted to it as if it's cross-contaminated with gluten.
Trader Joe's also has reasonably strong social distancing in place. They seem to be the reverse - customers behave reasonably in line, but employees can be obnoxious. I've been buying energy bars there. I keep wanting to find an alternative snack that's cheaper and possibly better for me, but I haven't been able to make that work.
I occasionally go to the local co-op. It's a small store, and they're trying, but it's hard to be socially distanced in there. Some of the workers are so busy being earthy crunchy hippie enlightened that they can't listen to the person standing in front of them. (This problem predates the pandemic.) Since it's collectively managed, there's no way to give feedback to the people who work there. I have pointed out that this is a problem. I used to be super enthusiastic about the place years ago, but I'm going there less and less. It might be middle-aged woman invisibility syndrome, and I just don't need that.
The garden is doing well. Hood strawberries are bigger and more abundant this year after clearing more room for them, feeding them with compost, and watering regularly. Looks like I'll get a few blueberries this year, not as many as last year. The raspberries are in a shaded corner and haven't started bearing yet, but they bear all summer.
Snap peas are just starting to come in. Bean plants are just now reaching my makeshift string trellis. Cilantro is growing well and I'm harvesting some regularly for stirfry. I bought a thai basil start that may or may not grow faster than its leaves are being eaten by bugs. So far the italian basil start is doing better. Dill is growing well from seeds. I see the first romanesco zucchini growing on the biggest plant (out of 4). Have to keep an eye on it and pick it before it gets too big.
How's it going for your food gathering and garden growing?