Eating locally!

I think this is the summer that I am really committed to eat as locally as possible. I loved the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver - that was part of my motivation to actually plant a vegetable garden this year after talking about it for at least the last 2 or 3 years. And so far it is sure fun to watch everything grow and be able to eat some yummy veggies right out of our yard! The cauliflower and broccoli are ready and some of the peas look like they are ready or close! The tomato plants are coming along nicely as well as squash (that already need to be thinned a bit) and onions, garlic, peppers, beans and cucumbers. The only thing that didn't go well was our lettuce - the slugs invaded in record numbers even though we spent quite a bit of time daily "flinging" them out of the garden. Finally decided they could eat the lettuce and we could just get that at Farmer's Market. I think it is working as they did devour the lettuce, but haven't gotten started on anything else. So anyone who knows non-toxic ways to deter slugs for future lettuce plantings, please pass along your wisdom!
Farmer's Market has also been a wonderful source of fresh local produce. We have been gorging on yummy strawberries and now the peaches from Eastern Washington have arrived - hurray! This crazy spring/summer have delayed a lot of the fruit from its usual harvest time - but that has just meant we are even happier to finally see it, and eat it!
So, I am finding our garden to be relaxing to work in, and I really enjoy not having to worry about some of the various alarming bulletins about the mass-produced items causing e coli or salmonella scares - organic and local offers great peace of mind as well as amazing taste!