One Local Summer: Week 3

Back in the old days, produce wasn't the only thing that ebbed and flowed according to the seasons. Meat was seasonal, too. People ate quick-maturing, quick-to-prepare poultry in fair weather, then slaughtered a hog when the first cold snap arrived. With no refrigeration, they depended on the weather to chill the larger animal's meat while they hurried to process and cure it.

Well, we definitely have refrigeration, but the same is turning out to be true for us. We always get our pig in midwinter and eat more poultry throughout the rest of the year. 2007 marks the first time we've raised any chickens specifically for meat, and we're starting to reap the benefits now. Dark Cornishes are flighty, but they are really worth raising!

This is what we ate for this week's One Local Summer meal:

BAKED CHICKEN:
Chicken - our own
Thyme - our own
Vinegar, butter, and wine - elsewhere

FRESH CORN CHOWDER:
Corn - Athens, Ga. (35 miles)
Milk - Starr, S.C. (73 miles)
Green pepper - my neighbor's (.25 mile)
Onion - Vidalia, Ga. (136 miles)
Bacon - our own, from a central Georgia pig
Basil and thyme - our own
Butter - elsewhere



PEACH COBBLER:
Peaches - south Georgia, because all the peaches in north and central Georgia were killed in the spring frost
Soft wheat flour - Athens, Ga. (35 miles)
Buttermilk - Starr, S.C. (73 miles)
Butter, baking powder, sugar, lemon - elsewhere



Mmm...summer.