PA N D E M I C L E S S O N S L E A R N E D :
Sustainable eating + living Article & photos by Sharon Gurney
As I am sure has been the case for many of us, this pandemic has not only resulted in much self-isolation, but also self-reflection, self-discovery and in some cases, a desire for self-sufficiency and even food security. Take-out food delivery wasn’t an option at my Granite Lake cottage, where I spent as much of the past year and a half as I could. With COVID-19 public health restrictions making grocery shopping challenging for most of that time, I began to wonder… how am I going to eat sustainably and healthy in a more isolated environment?
Healthy sustainable food
My first new food venture was into the world of sourdough bread making. Everyone seemed to be doing it, so much so that finding flour became a challenge. Although I love to cook, baking was never my forte. I soon learned that making delicious sourdough bread was a great way to reduce trips to the grocery store, and another reason to get outside and work off the bread calories. The Fall 2020 issue of Area News featured a great stepby-step sourdough breadSourdough success was a surprising pandemic making recipe (as a member, accomplishment. you can see it online).
Make your greens go further—cut off the bottoms, put them in water and they start growing again.
Another way to make your greens go further is to cut off the bottom of your green onions, celery stalk, bok choy, romaine lettuce, and put them in water and voila, they start growing again. You can plant your onions and celery once they root to increase your harvest. Free homegrown healthy food! Growing my own garden seedlings over the spring resulted in a thriving container garden—fresh greens and herbs right outside the door from spring to fall.
Fun Food Fact: Broccoli sprouts have 50-100 times the concentration of sulforaphanes per weight of regular broccoli. Nutritional researchers report that eating these potent anticancer fighting phytochemicals found in broccoli sprouts is the most nutritious and costeffective way to improve your diet.
But you can’t eat healthy and live on bread alone. Thanks to the Next, came foraging for chanterelle and lobster knowledge I gained from the sprout mushrooms, and of course, picking wild berries, guru, Doug Evans (sproutman.com but ensuring to leave plenty for the wildlife. /pages/sprouting-101), and a This past spring, I harvested my sea of yellow Canadian seed supplier, I became dandelion flowers, turning them into a enthralled with the wonderful delicious syrup for blueberry pancakes (see world of jar and container also Bob Stewart’s dandelion jelly recipe on sprouting. Who knew you page 60). Fortunately, my prolific concord could grow delicious and grape vine provided enough berries to extraordinarily nutritious food sustain me in jam through the winter. in only a few days with some seeds, a sealer jar, and water! Sprouts are delicious on salads, sandwiches, or as a super nutritious side.
Lake of the Woods District Stewardship Association
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