Let it bee...

Earlier this week I heard how many bees' lives it takes to make a teaspoonful of honey. Even though it remains my favourite number, I was shocked to learn it takes twelve. Not simply twelve bees, but the entire life's output of twelve worker bees (all of whom are female, ahem). 

If nothing else, this has given me a new respect for the little jars of golden sweet that I rely upon, especially as part of my breakfast. 

Each of the jars in the image are in steady rotation here. 

The tallest is from a pair of friends who live on Vancouver Island and who have been teaching themselves how to raise bees as part of their large, bountiful garden. 

The one on the right comes from Hornby Island, again thanks to the generosity of friends. 

The other, on the left, is plain old 'store-bought' though it too comes from Canada, but from far-off Ontario, so it's the one I consider more 'utilitarian' and I use it when the honey is an ingredient rather than a mainstay (like on toast or yogourt) as when I make salad dressing or barbecue sauce. 

Besides loving the taste of honey, I love the fact that it keeps so well, pretty much forever!

 

Eat well, eat local

Today is the first day of an "Eat Local" challenge. It runs through early November, perfectly in tune with the final harvest of autumn. It's all about eating well, and cooking with locally-produced food.

All the foods in the photo are ones that were locally grown. This particular batch of eggs, a product I usually buy at my local Farmer's Market, were a gift from a friend who raises chickens (and other critters) at her farm. I love the range of their colours, a mix from the different varieties of chickens she keeps.

The rainbow of tomatoes and sprigs of basil (even in a photo, they want to be near each other, just the way they do in a salad or sauce) are the most locally grown of all, as they're among the last survivors in the back yard garden.

Besides having an excellent market every week, I'm lucky enough to be able to choose among several excellent nearby produce shops, where local food is always identified, making it easy to decide what to buy.

More and more people are choosing to pay closer attention to the food they eat -- all part of staying healthier, eating food that tastes better, and also about using the land better. A number of my friends now proclaim themselves to be urban farmers. A great way to start making this goal a reality for next year is to get a copy of Digging the City. No snobbery here; it proclaims itself as a "manifesto for omnivores" -- a group I'm still proudly a member of.

While I doubt that I can make it through to November without wanting an avocado or banana or orange or lemon or... (Oh dear, I am still too reliant on too many foods from 'away'), I have joined the challenge, as I like its awareness factor.

If you'd like to try the challenge too, follow this link and click on the 'join' button. And even if you don't join, here's to good eating!