Local eats

Hello everyone!  I'm enjoying my first Saturday in more than a month with absolutely nothing to do.  Unfortuantely, I'm probably going to spend it cleaning.  But that can be kind of relaxing sometimes, too.  As I type, my husband is banging on our ceiling, trying to get our bathroom tub unclogged.  Just another joy of living in a 100-plus-year-old house with ancient plumbing.

Anyhow, a couple days ago, I picked up a few items from the Iowa Food Co-op.  It's a really neat program that connects local farmers with Des Moines area customers.  You just place an order in the online "shopping cart," and then once a month the farmers deliver the goodies to Merle Hall Mall in Des Moines for customers to pick up.

I signed up to get my hands on some locally grown fruits and veggies.  With my work and travel schedule, it can be hard to make it to the farmers' market sometimes.  And I love in-season produce.  Nothing tastes better than a just picked strawberry.

It's still too early in the season for locally grown strawberries and vegetables.  So I ordered a couple Iowa-made cheeses.  I love the Gouda cheese from Frisian Farms in Pella.

And I bought Feta cheese from Northern Prairie Chevre in Woodward.  I've never tried this cheese before, but I'm looking forward to using it as a salad topper.

Just for fun, I also bought a container blueberry plant.  Still trying to decide if I'm going to leave it in the pot or plant it by my gooseberry bush.  I can already see blueberry flowers on the stems.

On a side note, I can't stop bragging about my radish crop.  I harvested the last of my radishes last night.  I may be a little biased, but they are the most adorable radishes in the world!  Bright red with a snow-white center.  I'll definitely be planting more of these in the fall.

Have a good weekend, my blog friends!