Catching Up With One Local Summer

I was sooooo excited to join the One Local Summer Challenge but the first few weeks of it became a little more challenging than anticipated! Between traveling and trying to save all my nickels and dimes (ie. not buying anything more than necessities) for costs associated with buying my condo in mid-July I wanted to use up all the food I currently have. Up until week 4 of the challenge I hadn't been able to make a whole meal with local foods but I've tried to incorporate what I have from my community garden plot or what I've been given each week from my fellow gardners.

So, here is what I've done so far for One Local Summer:

Week One: I was given a bunch of delicious lettuce from a neighbor at my community garden (3 miles from my home). I also bought some local rhubard to freeze and mix with strawberries in some kind of yummy goodness once our Oregon strawberries are ready! Week Two: I'm on vacation this week with my mom and we had some DELICIOUS steamed shrimp at a cute beach restaurant on Tybee Island, Georgia. The shrimp was advertised as being caught right off the beach in a boat owned by the restaurant for catching all their seafood. That's pretty darn fresh and local :) I've also never had shrimp where I've had to take their little legs off...not a big fan of that as it felt a little too barbaric.
Week Three: Still traveling for part of the week and while in Charleston we had local fried green tomatoes. Again, delicious, especially with the fruit salsa! I should have planted some green tomatoes in my garden as I really liked the taste of them! Next year :)Week Four: WooHoo...ALL LOCAL MEAL!! We are in the middle of a heat wave here in Oregon so fresh raw food sounded great!! Earlier in the day some friends and I picked berries at Krugers Farm on Sauvie Island and at their farm stand I also picked up some local red peppers, cucumbers, and nectarines...YUM!!! I topped off my meal (actually, meal"s" as I prepared enough for lunch on Sunday!) with lettuce and spinach I have growing on my balcony, radishes from my garden, and a couple of slices of Oregon's Local Tillamook Cheddar Cheese from Tillamook Oregon. This was a PERFECT local meal for a hot day!!I'm hoping by Week 5 I will have some zucchini and yellow neck squash ready in my garden...yum yum!

To Do: Remember My Password!

Just when I thought I was going to be on top of blogging I go and take another month off...so sorry! I'll be a little honest with you and confess that part of the reason was I forgot my password for blogger...oops :) Anyway, the other reason is that life got a little hectic these past few weeks with things like finishing up an academic year, getting ready for an awesome vacation, and buying a home! Yes, in a matter of a 7 day time-frame I decided to see what it would take to stop renting and next thing I know I am submitting an offer on a condo and getting it accepted...crazy! That week of learning the in's-and-out's of being a first time homebuyer was A LOT of extra stress but luckily it was followed by a great week and a half of vacation with my momma to Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina! We had such a great time and now that I am faced with packing up my apartment I can only wish we were still on vacation!

Here are some pictures of the past month :) Updates on One Local Summer and my garden will be coming soon, I promise! I made sure to write down my password :)
My friend Wendy and I spent a lovely Saturday morning taking pictures of wildflowers in the Columbia River Gorge...they were so beautiful!
Here is one of my best friends Emily getting married :) Her wedding was in TN and it was so cool to be able to be there to see her marry the man of her dreams! Emily, you are a BEAUTIFUL bride and I swear I have never seen you smile so much before!
While in TN we stayed with my friend Mandi and as always time with Mandi is time well spent :)
After Emily's wedding my Mom and I drove to Savannah...what an AMAZING CITY!!! The humidity was not so amazing but we still had a great time wandering all around it's gorgeous historic district! Our camera's needed a break at the end of each day with how many pictures we were taking!
Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah is really cool, sooooo much history there and the Spanish Moss is just gorgeous! They say Bonaventure is one of the nation's most haunted places and we could totally picture the spirits partying it up when night falls. Think of the fun they must have frolicking through all the moss!
Spanish Moss and my pretty momma! Avenue of Oaks at Boone Hall Plantation outside of Charleston South Carolina. Cannot help but think "Run Forest Run" when I see this picture :)Charleston was BEAUTIFUL! The houses are to die for and I cannot imagine what it must be like to live in them! This was a little house for the historic neighborhood we were wandering around in but doesn't it have great windows!! Just how I pictured beaches in South Carolina to look like :)
Sunset on the dock...what a perfect way to end vacation! Thanks for taking a look at my month in pictures!