Four Agreements:
Take Nothing Personally
Make No Assumptions
Keep Agreements
Always give your best
-Don Miguel Ruiz
This weekend we met for the first trade of our new, local, homemade food co-op. We are five women who love to make our food from scratch and are committed to feeding ourselves and our families with the highest quality foods available to us. We have come together to meet once monthly and share the production of homemade foods. A key point in creating this group was to lighten the burden for those of us who try to do everything ourselves. Yes, we are all superwomen but there is only so much time in the day, right?
Our group is generally based on the Weston A. Price nutritional philosophy. Each of us has chosen to prepare with love and the best organic ingredients, one type of food or house hold item in hopes we can each become an artisan in that field of production.
The categories agreed upon for our first trade were...
-Lacto ferments
-Bread and granola
-Cheese
-Meat
-Herbal body products
-Natural laundry soap
The specific items produced were dill pickles, fresh goat cheese balls immersed in extra virgin olive oil, sourdough bread with whole sprouted grains baked in the cob oven, honey maple granola, rabbit adobo and pot pie filling humanly raised and hand slaughtered, chamomile lavender deodorant, and laundry detergent made from natural soap bars, washing soda, and essential oils.
We had an initial meeting in July to brainstorm and determine the wants/needs of the group and to see what we were all able to offer. During this recent meeting we shared our challenges and failures, as well as, developed understanding around potential situations that could arise. There is so much pleasure in creating something from scratch that you know will not only nourish your family but others as well. It feels deeply satisfying to come together in community in this small way to form sustainable systems that benefit each other. Definitely feels like permaculture in action.
Next months items will be sprouted dehydrated crackers, properly prepared beans pressure canned in quart jars so they will be shelf stable, feta cheese made from raw goat milk, kale chips, ferments, and the one Im most looking forward to-chocolate chip cookie dough.
We are excited to expand our group in the future but for now we want to get a good rhythm going. This is a model that can easily be replicated by folks in any area. You can adjust the items produced to your individual needs. And its so much fun!
