I had already decided that this coming month of Oct was going to be a eat out of the garden, pantry, farm month for me, I’m looking forward to it, I have been very busy in Sept and have no doubt eaten more “out” meals in the past month then we normally do in six months or more, we have had “junk” to eat, way to much sugar in the way of the add a pop to this meal or that, to be fair, most of the time we did order water only but still even a few pops over the month are really quite bad for us.
Say on C.D. site that there was a fellow blogger talking about that oct is a blogger challange from eating rules to make oct unprocessed, aka cook from scratch and use only food that you can name and understand what part it was or is. He does have a good list of things, but I am going to make it fairly basic for our part in this, if its something that we could make ourselves with either my or Dh’s knowledge and I have a full understanding of what it is and its a whole food, then its included.
Example, Salt, I understand a number of ways that salt can be gathered and processed (I have done this, but my salt turned out grey but it did the job) having said that I am going to use the local ontario salt that is in my pantry.
However, I am going to make it just a touch harder on myself, which should make my cooking more fun for me, which tends to keep me a bit more on the correct path, and that is, I will try my best to make each meal 50 percent or more also 20 mile diet or closer, I picked this number as I want to be able to include the local whole grains I bought in 50 pds lots from the farmers this fall, but I don’t want to reach out the full 100 miles as it includes to much freedom in what I can get if I want to do so.
Have not figured out how I am going to deal with the challange in blogging terms, I will certianly be sharing both the good, bad, and the cravings, but have not figured out the format yet.. can’t decide if I will do a weekly post..
Just another Day on the Farm 
Sounds scary. Fun, but scary. As expensive as food is getting, I think we’re all going to be trying this challenge soon.
Hi Andrea,
I a little scary to make sure that 50 percent or more is basicly coming from the farm in terms of calories, but it should be a good test to see how my goals of feeding ourselves off the farm is coming along, its a good time of the year in one way, as harvest is in so to speak but on the other its already very limiting on what is available for fresh.
I followed your link and I’m reading his list. Following his challenge would mean I’d have to buy stuff – like whole wheat flour (which doesn’t store well) and more unrefined sugar. Can’t do it.
Clabber cheese is draining on my kitchen table, with apple chips drying in the dehydrator, apple butter simmering down on the stovetop, and meatballs in the oven ready to can later, along with the chicken broth I made from old stewing hens this week. Oh, and sourdough bread is rising, while apple cider is fermenting in my cupboard to become vinegar by the spring.
LOL I think I’m cooking from scratch, even if I do still have white flour (I’ll use whole wheat only after I get a grain mill) and some processed sugar. 😀
Hi C.D.
Yup, you are cooking from scratch indeed! I will be very upfront on the fact that I will not be buying anything to do this challange, I will be eating out of the pantry first, cooking from scratch and using real food and as much as possable from off the farm, but the idea of not being able to use my own home canned products because I used white sugar to can it so that I would have a long shelf stable product is not going to happen..
Anymore then the fact that my preserved homegrown-home butchered meat is out because I used pink salt to perserve it, I will do my very best to work towards using whole foods, whole grains and liked the idea of talking about what our local zone’s and area can produce or not produce but spending money to make this challange work is not part of the goal for me.
I want to work towards seeing how well we are doing in our ideals of living off the farm, not spend lots of money getting extra’s that fit the bill.
A good example is that I am in fact planning on learning how to make cream of tarter which is by-product of wine making, planning on bartering a little lamb meat for lots of scrapings to try this product, as I don’t make large amounts of wine personally.
There is another blogger that is doing an unprocessed (vegan) food challenge which I decided not to join because it would mean, like you, that I couldn’t use foods such as my prickly pear jelly made from local prickly pears I gathered and processed (juiced) myself, adding pectin and sugar (not local) to make into jelly. Nope, the priority for my personal October Pantry Challenge is to eat what I have on hand in the pantry, fridge, and freezer, with the addition of the locally grown produce (usually damaged) I get to bring home from my volunteer gig at a local organic garden plus additional produce purchased as needed at the farmers market once a week. The processed foods I have and will eat are not, IMHO, all that unhealthy plus they are not a huge part of my daily diet.
I’m also trying to figure out how to post progress. Purchases will be only once a week, at the farmers market. Whether I want to post a daily or occasional menu with explanations of origins of the ingredients is what I’m currently working on. Could be interesting but could get really tedious, too.
Hi Chile
Sounds like you right in line with me and Doomer,work and eat with what you have for the idea, don’t go buying lots of extra to fit in. I say your post on your shopping trip, and quite liked reading about what you found at the market. I am grateful that the garden is still producing fairly well at this time, still bringing in bowlful of fresh rasberries,and they are big an heavenly sweet at this time of the year