August is NH Eat Local Month, and we’ve got 31 days to celebrate! All month long, we can find new ways to support New Hampshire farmers and local agriculture:
3. Grow your own. It’s not too late to plant things like greens, carrots, etc. for the fall, in fact, it’s perfect timing! Limited Space? – grow herbs on your window sills or a sunny spot all year round. List of gardening to-do’s for August (by zone)
4. Share your love of local food. Bring a friend to market, brag about your delicious dinner on facebook/yourblog/twitter/in a text. Spread the word and support local agriculture in NH!
5. Pick your own. Peaches, blueberries, and even early season apples as well as vegetables are available to pick yourself. It can be a great way to get a lot of produce for less money, and a fun family or friend outing in a beautiful location. Try nh.com or and the NH Dept of Ag Markets & Food (.pdf) listings to find a farm near you.
6. Try local meats. NH is home to lots of farms growing everything from chicken and turkey to beef, pork, lamb, goat, elk, venison, and bison! NH Department of Ag, Eat Wild, and NH Magazine have great info.
7. Eat out! Ask about local food options at a local restaurants and stores.
8. Make it sweet, eat more maple syrup and honey
9. Visit a farm
10. Yes You Can!
11. Try a new food or a new recipe. Be brave! Try kohlrabi or goat orfillintheblank.
12. Learn a new skill. Across the state, there are workshops on everything from canning to raising chickens and a whole lot more. Check out Cooperative Extension, Seacoast Permaculture Meetup, Central Permaculture Meetup, and D Acres just for starters. Or, share a skill and teach a friend or neighbor to cook.
13. Find inspiration, check out NH’s local food bloggers
14. Make it a party. Invite friends and family for an all local bbq or pot-luck, or a few close friends for a can-apalooza!
15. Take a picture, it’ll last longer
16. Eat nothing but locally grown foods for a day, or a week, or the whole month!
17. Cheeeeeese please!
18. Freeze it: freeze fresh herbs in ice cube trays so you can use them for soups and stocks. Make pesto with fresh basil, garlic and pine nuts and freeze! Keep berries fresh and ready to use in smoothies, pies and toppings all year long. All you need is a baking sheet and plastic freezer bags or jars. Lay berries on sheet and place in freezer, once frozen, scoop berrries into freezer bag or jar.
19. Forage – For novices try finding nearby wild blackberry bushes, alpine blueberries,or greens like dandelions. With help from an expert, forage for mushrooms and medicinal herbs. NOFA-NH foraging workshop
20. Dry, smoke it, cure it, make some charcuterie!
21. Spend $10 a week on local food
22. Make that summer seafood truly local!
23. Feed your head and feast with your eyes
24. Join a csa/csf/farm patron program. Share the fun & expense – split a CSF/CSA with a neighboring friend or family
25. Glean and donate to a local food pantry
26. Hold a garden/canning/seed swap, trade what you have lots of for what others are producing
27. Volunteer your time to a local food organization, food pantry, or school garden
Enjoy eating locally all August long!
Contributors to this post include Erin Allgood, Sarah Jacobson, Debra Kam, Tracy Osborne Miller, Kate Mitchell, Sara Zoe Patterson, Jessica Sheldon, and Lenore Paquette Smith.
Wow. Everything about this “locally-sourced” article makes for a perfect resource for good food. If only I was closer to the New Hampshire shoreline.