Dark Days Wrap-Up

the dark days challenge is officially over.
i enjoyed the challenge immensely but was somewhat disappointed in my ability to come through each week. all in all, i participated in eight of the eighteen weeks—so just under half of the challenges.

what was my hold up?

primarily the shortage of local resources in walla walla come winter. our farmer's market is closed before halloween and around that same time the local farm stands also shut up for the winter, if not sooner. we have a local free-range meat provider and one local milk/cream farm selling in the grocery stores; and there are some locally sourced grains and grain products available by mail or our upstart Co-op.

so in the end the majority of my options came from my own cupboards and with that we enter into an entirely different sort of complications. primarily: my feeble attempts to store for the winter and my inability to think outside the box(store).

the best thing i came away from the challenge with is a better understanding of what i need to do to make the most of my garden and local farms this season so that i can become a better locavore for the next dark days challenge. i don't think that i would have that perspective without having tried the challenge.

want to hear more? read about my 2009 dark days adventure.