Chef Ona Lee outside of the North Cascades Beef Coop

We hear the phrase “eat local” and see infographics featuring “seasonal produce” floating around the web on a daily basis. But how? How do we take these buzz words & posts and incorporate them into our day to day reality? How do we pay for it? Especially in this day and age of rising costs?

Lay your thinking cap to rest, because in this post we have five simple answers to get you started.

This meal was made entirely with local & seasonal food bought in bulk and stored.
Featuring: Home canned peaches. Homemade breakfast sausage packaged and stored in the freezer. Dutch baby made with Fairhaven Mill flour and water-glassed eggs.

Buy in Bulk

This is one you’re probably familiar with, but maybe you’re thinking I mean Costco or the bins at your local co-op. While I will never discount the value and magic of those bins or $1.50 hotdogs, I am actually guiding you towards more—whole-10, 25, or 50 pound sacks and cases more—to be exact. There are some things that just don’t grow in Washington state for example, organic sugar I buy in 10lbs bags from Costco. Whereas with flours, grains, fruits, and veggies I buy in bulk from organic local farms. When we buy in bulk we save not only money, we prevent a massive amount of packaging and fuel emissions from entering our environment.

Now, I know you are wondering where I propose you keep all of this food or where you will buy it. Stay with me, and I will explain.

Store Food

A classic practice due for a comeback in an era with so much upset. Whether you have a vast pantry or you’re working with a small space, there are ways to store your own food. Let yourself celebrate the tiny wins of a few home canned jars, or a five gallon bucket of flour. Preserving food makes for easy storage. We can accomplish this by freezing, canning, drying, fermenting, smoking, dehydrating, pickling, salting, in oil, water-glassing and more. This is a vast topic that I will continually cover, do not rush in or allow yourself to be immediately overwhelmed. I know how easy it is to see the pantries of experienced and ready homesteaders online and be discouraged. Proper food storage is an art in itself. Late winter is a perfect time to start by going through your pantry, cabinets, closets, garage or any storage space you have at home and letting go of or using items to make way for the incoming bounty. If you intend to follow Clara’s throughout this year, you will have plenty of time to get well versed in making food storage work for you. For now, start small and make space.

Homegrown

Growing organic food at home is an excellent way to stay in tune with the cycles of the season and eat hyper locally whether it is a jar of sprouts on the counter, a selection of pots, or a full blown homestead operation with livestock. When we eat this way we are working with, not against, what nature would have for us. When we work with nature we greatly reduce our negative impact towards the environment, we find ourselves more grounded which can greatly reduce stress, and can almost guarantee what we are putting into our bodies will leave us better than we started. Let’s take a moment to pump the breaks, this is another instance to start small if you are just getting into it or find yourself getting down on what you don’t know. The world needs you growing food, not shaming yourself based on how much you can spend getting the garden ready or burning out. A few pots of herbs, a tray of greens, or the humble jar of sprouts has great impact over time. Celebrate whatever you are capable of. If you need a little direction the internet can be a treasure trove of gardening wisdom. Some of my favorites to follow are Growing Your Greens on YouTube and Epic Gardening on all platforms, just to get your toes wet. You are also in luck, because it being early February, whether you plan on starting seeds or buying starts you have time to get a garden going. This year we will be working our largest space yet at our very own homestead on a serious budget and sharing our garden journey along the way.

Buy Farmer Direct

On any given day when I have nothing better to do, i.e hiding from responsibilities, you will find me in the county seeking out a farm stand. Buying directly from farmers means we are getting the best quality at the lowest price for that quality. We can buy direct through farm stands, farmer’s markets, and through direct contact with farmers. Not all farmers welcome this, don’t go poking around without prior understanding of each farmer’s way of business. One of my favorite staples to buy direct is meat. You might notice that prices for meat are more expensive than the grocery store. So how are we going to save money this way? Eat better meat less often. Or you might notice in some instances you can get local pasture raised ground beef for $4.50 p/lbs or less if you buy in larger quantities, which is far less than market price for the same product. I frequently post about the farm stands I find along the way on Instagram, and next blog post is going to be an all local meat buying guide in Whatcom county. Get out there and see what you can find, never know when a “fresh eggs” sign will pop up roadside.

Neighbor Swap and Sharing

There’s a lot of reasons to have good relationships whenever possible with neighbors. I don’t believe the phrase “it takes a village” should be limited to the reference of raising children. When good neighbors aren’t there, extend this category to friends, family, and trusted community. So, what is swap and sharing? It is when households or groups of people share in extra crops, or agree to a shared growing schedule (i.e you grow the ‘maters, ill raise the corn), or trade crops & chores for prepared food or other luxuries. This is also a really good way to handle buying bulk in large quantities. Fifty pounds of wheat might sounds daunting for one household, but divided amongst four, it is much more manageable. If you don’t know your neighbors now and feel safe opening that door, here’s your reminder to start building those relationships. Have an elderly or any neighbor with fruit trees? Offer to pick up the fallen fruit to the compst to pick a box of fresh, pick some for the neighbors to eat too. If one brings you a bunch of tomatoes, save some for you and give them some sauce or food made with some as a thank you. It is an exceptionally fulfilling way to shorten our monetary expenses while building foundational relationships we can rely on.