Life as we go it

The days of the summer farmers' market are long past...and it seems as if we're entering into an arctic freeze. But luckily we have the Sheboygan Winter Farmers Market to provide us with the pleasures of summer, just in a "different" way (examples: tomatoes are canned instead of fresh and local lettuce is grown in a greenhouse instead of a garden).

I wanted to share what we bought at the market yesterday because all of it just looks so yummers.

Our next-door neighbor makes these salsas herself and sells them at the market. Made with heirloom tomatoes, peppers, onion, lime juice, lemon juice, cilantro, vinegar, garlic and salt. Hey, I know what all of the ingredients are!

Yeah...Matt ate half of this jar already. Also made with organic heirloom tomatoes.

Matt persuaded me to get this lamb steak. I'm honestly not a huge lamb fan, but I'll give it a whirl. This is from a local Wisconsin farm called Settler Farm Lamb.

OMG this honey is so good. Matt prefers orange blossom honey (but orange blossom honey is always imported from down south). I prefer clover honey. Liam will pretty much eat honey with anything (he would seriously dip pickles in honey if given the chance).

We bought a quart. It filled up our honey jar, our honey bear and there's still 1/2 a quart left in the cupboard.

This syrup is super local as well. Our neighbor's boyfriend tends to the syrup on this farm. Liam is obsessed with this syrup as well.

This cool hippie couple persuaded us to buy some of their freshly hand-dipped incense sticks. Matt and I both love the smell of Nag Champa. We like to place a stick in our fireplace at times, or we're stick them in the grass in our yard during parties for a nice little scent.

All of the above items cost us around $45. That may seem like a lot of money for some salsas, meat and sweet toppings, but when you really think about it, it's not too bad. At the grocery store $45 will buy you a few bags of Tostitos, some cases of soda and beer and some ice cream. And how long will those items last? Maybe a week or two? And how healthy are they for you? On another note, I know that $45 can buy you a decent amount of food if you're a smart shopper, such as a package of chicken breasts, canned veggies, some fresh fruits and a couple gallons of milk. But those will also be gone in a week or two.

Considering the items we bought, I'm predicting the salsa will last a couple of weeks in our house (ok...who am I kidding...Matt will probably down both jars all by himself within the next week), the meat will make a good 2-3 meals for our little family, and the honey and syrup will last us a good 6-9 months. Part of the reason the syrup and honey will last us so long is because we use LESS compared to syrups and honeys we've bought from grocery store. The local syrup and honey just taste THAT much better because they're not filled with sugars & artificial flavorings. And the incense will last us a good year.

Other that knowing we're eating locally grown & made items, it feels great to buy from local people.

Do YOU have a winter farmers market in your town? What are your favorite items?