We aim to make most things from scratch.  To that end, we spend plenty of time cooking.  Because we love to eat, cooking does not feel like a chore.  Still, I was curious exactly how much time we spend in the kitchen. Like last year’s gardening time study, I recorded every person hour in the kitchen this week.  This was a fairly typical week for our three person family with one lunch at a conference, [...]

Go to the farmer’s market…Prepare the ingredients…Cook…Eat…Cleanup…  Serving fresh local foods can be a time consuming process.  With some practice and efficiency, you can eat locally without spending hours a day.  Here are some ideas: Streamline Purchasing ~ subscribing to a CSA or growing food yourself saves time and transportation resources.  If you do shop the market weekly, make a list and stick to it. Prepare in Batches ~ Chop ingredients that get used often [...]

Many garden novices seem to be overwhelmed at the time investment in gardening.  I can tell you it doesn’t take that much time, but I finally realized I need to quantify it. So last week, I recorded every moment spent in the garden.  I chose mid-August because it is a typically busy time – weeding, watering, planting, and harvesting all call out for attention.   If any time is busier, it might be spring, when beds [...]