The Bounty in the Neighbor's Yard

It's an abundant time of year for fresh fruits and vegetables, and our neighborhood has its own unused bounty sadly falling onto the sidewalks. On my walk with Jax this week, we discovered a plum tree whose fruit is littering the yard and sidewalk, lemons, oranges, and apples (not yet ripe), and a big rosemary bush. The lemons have been offered to us by their kind owners (and our occasional babysitter) and today I asked to pick some of the ripe, juicy plums, coming home with a nice sized bag that are already half eaten. This week, I'll ask about the oranges and rosemary, and I'll go back for more plums! I'd love to find a bay tree in the neighborhood; I'll have to keep an eye out on future walks!

One of our neighbors has chickens and a lovely garden, supplying some of her neighbors with occasional eggs. Another neighbor grows zucchini by the bushel and it is a regular late-summer gift to all of his neighbors. At the end of the street, a small garden is growing between the street and sidewalk, with staked tomatoes, strawberries, and squash. Our suburban street is flush with fresh, flavorful, foods!

My garden plans have been sadly neglected, but I'm more inspired to start with late season seeds and join the grow-my-own club. There is an event scheduled at Common Ground in Palo Alto called the Edible Landscaping tour, described as a self-guided tour to

Learn what motivates your neighbors to grow their own food! Discover how folks weave edible plants into both garden beds and the landscape! Meet the gardeners and get inspired by the special features of their gardens!

I'll be joining just to see what else is growing in our neighborhood that I don't even know is edible!

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Today's weigh in showed a drop of 1.6 lb., for a total of 18.2 lost. Next week should bring me to the 20 lb. mark. At the meeting today, our leader Jennifer started a travelling food journal. A different member takes the journal each week and tracks what they eat that week, passing it along at the end of their week for someone new. I thought it was a really neat idea, and a good way to get new ideas. I took it for the first week, and hopefully I can take a look at the end of the book to see what other people have been eating. I'm a food voyeur! :)

I did my shopping after Weight Watchers and made up for my very inexpensive shopping week last week! I didn't end up buying any more milk last week, so my total was only $17.45. This week, I needed more lentils, beans, oatmeal, milk, yogurt, a few spices, and of course produce, plus a few incidentals. I asked the buyer at Country Sun where the lentils and black beans come from, but she couldn't say specifically, only "back east". Many of the bulk bins are local, including Lundberg Farms rice, locally grown nuts and such.

I spent $51.50 at Country Sun, $25 at the farmer's market (including Spring Hill smoked sharp cheddar and a piece of snapper), and another $42 at the Grocery Outlet, where I bought 12-grain bread by Vital Vittles, whole wheat pitas by Soli's Bakery, corn tortillas by another local company, and a case of canned vegetable stock (not local), case of canned organic tomatoes (not local), two blocks of organic cheese from Petaluma (and only $2.99 a lb!) and a jar of pickles for Mr.M. He likes Clausen pickles and only Clausen pickles, but I rarely buy them.

Yesterday, I bought eggs (local and organic) and Garden burgers for the boy-o (not local) at Costco for $12.98. My food expenses for the week thus add up to $131.48. Tomorrow, I'm buying more produce to can and freeze, and I ordered another whole salmon, coming in next week; I'm also sending in a check for the grain CSA, so it will be another pricy week but the food will be eaten for several months with what is being spent for the next few weeks.


This week's produce box included
Basil
Blue lake green beans
Nantes carrots
White sweet corn
Two small melons (a watermelon and a cantaloupe)
White Lady peaches (YUMMY!!)
Heirloom tomatoes



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Daily Menu
Breakfast:
nonfat latte
peach

Lunch:
Split pea soup
1 c. milk
3 plums

Dinner:
Grilled Eggplant Stacks with goat cheese (3 Points)
Small piece of grilled snapper
Corn on the cob
2 t. olive oil
bulgur

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 3
WPA points available: 35
Activity points today: 4
Activity points this week: 4

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - bulgur
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes