We spent more money on food this week than usual. I found a gem of a farm about an hour north of us- Runaway Creek Farm. It really is perfect, and so beautiful. They have 5 grass-fed cows, 6 grass-fed pig, lots of chickens, bees and acres upon acres of grass and gardens. They are an eco-cert farm and sell to the public.
When we arrived, I saw a few people tending to the farms, and heard chicken in the background. I wasn't quite sure where I went to purchase my produce, but the owner was kind enough to assist me. I went up to the small kiosk and only saw tomatoes and cucumbers, but was interested in fresh spices and leafy greens as well. I was informed that they went out to the gardens to pick what I needed. Pardon me? You do what? I was most definitely impressed. Can’t get more fresh than your own backyard.
I need 2 dozen eggs, and the owner went into the hen house and came back with fresh eggs! No rinsing, no nothing. Now, I don't even have to put the eggs in the fridge. They are sitting on my counter and will last anywhere from one month to two. I love this.
Before this week, I never tasted fresh stevia and my mouth was in for a treat. Believe you me, I will not be purchasing liquid stevia again. The fresh leaves are nice and sweet and don't have the “yucky” after taste I find liquid stevia has.
Little E and I had a great afternoon, playing in the grass and hanging out with the chickens. We were told we could come back anytime between 10am and 5pm, and can stay as long as we want to roam the farm and have a picnic lunch if we choose. Another nice touch that comes with this farm.
I think I will be making our trip to Runaway Creek Farm a little mother/daughter outing every week or two. I seriously had to force little E in the car. She wanted to stay with the chickens (or bwak bwak as she calls them).
1-PURCHASES
La Moisson (Natural Food Store)
Bulk
- 4 oranges (USA)
- 1 sweet potato (Quebec)
- 10 cucumbers (Ontario)
- Fair trade bananas from Equator (6 lbs)
Non-Bulk
- 1 bottle of Kombucha (Montreal)
- 1 loaf of sunflower seed bread
- 1 bag of carrots (USA)
- 1 bunch of celery (USA)
- 4 glass jars of tomato paste (Canada)
- 2 glass bottles of apple cider vinegar
Non-Food Items
- Dish soap
Sub-total: 72.09
Lufa Farms- Root Top Farm (All organic)
- 9 Tomatoes
- 4 different types of peppers
- 2 heads of butter lettuce
- 5 medium cucumbers
- 1 bunch of microgreens
- 1 bunch of rhubarb
- 1 bunch of garlic scapes
- 1 bunch of rainbow chard
- 1 bunch of basil
Sub-total: 42.00 (Paid in advance)
Runaway Creek farm
- 1 large bunch of rainbow chard
- 1 bunch of dandelions
- 1 bunch of mustard greens
- 1 bunch of collard greens
- 1 small bunch of fresh stevia
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 1 bunch of lemon balm
- 1 baggie of dried stevia
- 1 small basket of small tomatoes
- 20 medium cucumbers
- 2 dozen fresh eggs
- 3 packages of grass-fed steak (2 per package)
- 1 package of grass-fed ground beef
Sub-total: 124.00
Non-Food Items
- 1 stainless steel thermos for little E’s shakes
- 2 stainless steel gates for our doors, so little doesn't fall through the screens
- 1 large metal shelf for our storage room
Total: 409.21
Restaurants
Friday: J.P had lunch with friends at work 15.00
Sub-Total: 15.00
Total: 662.20
2-COMPOSTING
Once again this week we fueled ourselves with lots of smoothies and juice. We are juicing less because of the Blendtec. You would think we would have less compost, but that is not the case. We tend to eat a large amount of veggies and fruit which creates lots of compost. So in reality I think we have the same amount of compost as every other week if not more.
Oh my, our compost was over flowing this week. I kept stuffing and stuffing it until the lid couldn't fit on. I think it was that I was too lazy to bring it to my sis-in-laws.
The total weight of our compost was 21 lbs.
3-RECYCLING
Our recycling is over flowing. We have so much! We have pretty much finished going through all our things since we moved a month ago. I found that we had lots of stuff we didn’t need anymore and just random stuff as well. A lot of it was recyclable, and quite a bit was put in bags for donations.
I am hoping our recycling bin problem gets better.
4-TRASH
We had the usual suspects like receipts, and some random pieces of plastic that can’t be recycled. We have had some random trash like styrofaom (cringe) from 3 years ago when we bought our T.V, and other trash from items we bought in the past. This has created some trash for us, and we didn’t keep it in the house with us. It all went directly into the big dumpster behind our condo.
I still have to remember we still have considerably less trash than the average person even though it feels as though our trash is increasing.
5-TRAVEL
This week, J.P drove to work and back, his sisters, and to Montreal to see some friends. I drove little E to daycare 3 times during the week, rugby practice, Lufa Farms drop off point, J.P’s parents, my mom and step-dads. I think that about covers it.
The total distance traveled on the TDI was 454.7 km (282 mi) and for the Mazda was 155.2 km (96 mi). The Mazda was filled with 50L (13.21) for 67.00$ and the TDI was filled with 52L (13.74gals) for 65.00$. Ouch- I miss American gas prices!
Disclosure CMP.LY/5
