Strawberries are Here!

Just imagine holding a fresh, plump, red, juicy, just-picked-from-the-vine strawberry. Now take a bite of this in your mind. I've been picturing this image more frequently as strawberry season has approached. Mid to late April is the beginning of strawberry season here in central North Carolina. If you love strawberries and have never actually visited a strawberry farm to pick your own, you should seriously consider making a trip NOW.

There are several strawberry farms in our area and if you don't know where one is, here are a couple of websites to help you locate one near you. For North Carolina: NC Fresh; for NC and other areas of the country: Pick Your Own. Just search for your county or buy product. The Pick Your Own site also includes numerous tips and preparation and preserving instructions.

Bring Local to Your Own Backyard

 Now is the time to begin planting all spring plants and within a week it will be time to begin planting summer plants. Harvesting your fruits and vegetables from your own backyard can be very easy and is very rewarding. Nothing is more local that something you've grown yourself. If you have never grown vegetables before it is easy and you can start small.

We have moved to planting most all of our vegetables in garden boxes verses rows because it seems easier to manage and it is easier to grow. I can use a soil blend that is more beneficial and nutritious  for the plants. The clay soil we have around here just isn't the most desirable medium for growing vegetables. By using a box or other container, you can control the make up of the soil and almost guarantee your results.

Local Challenge for 2010

I want to give you a challenge for 2010. At the start of this new year, I'd like to refocus on "keeping it local." Not just in food, which is normally the slant of what I'm saying, but in all aspects of your life. And like food, it's really whatever you can do, but try to do something. I'm going to use examples that are local to me, but they could be applicable to anywhere, just substitute the community, city or county you live in. Local is relative and with each decision, local has a different connotation; for food or gas it might be in your county or the one next to you but for some other product or service it might your state versus another or your country verses another.

We live in a rural area, but we are in close proximity to a big city (10 miles) and so between here and there the city kind of reaches out and there are a lot of businesses and services that are actually in our county that we can utilize without going into the city. Keeping it local does many things but some of the more important ones are

1. you support your local economy, which provides taxes for your schools and other projects
   
2. you support your local business person, which provides jobs for your neighbors
3. you support convenient alternatives, if you spend your money at a local business (0-10 miles away) versus across town (10-30) you are helping your local location stay open and it's a much more convenient location than the other one across town. It may be the same company, but each store is held to it's own merits.

It's your money and you can decide where to spend it, and since you are going to spend it, make each buying decision deliberate.

Here are some local examples and some stores I visit and why. There are many other examples that each of you could give, but as I said, start with one or two changes and grow from there as you can.

1. Ace Hardware vs. Lowe's Home Improvement vs. Home Depot: Ace Hardware is just over a mile from our house (and in Davidson Co and even my community) and they carry just about everything, just not on a large scale, but for most repair jobs or minor projects or household needs, they are going to carry the product. If you haven't stopped in at least do so to browse and see what they have. If they don't have it, then I'll travel another 6 miles to the new Lowe's. I chose Lowe's over Home Depot because Lowe's is a North Carolina-based company. I'm going to chose the Lowe's on Peter's Creek versus the one on Hanes Mall Blvd, because it's twice as close, it's never crowded and it's not impossible to drive to. But by supporting Ace Hardware or the Peter's Creek Lowe's I'm supporting locations that are convenient to me and helping their bottom line which keeps those convenient location open!
   
2. Hungry Howie's vs. Domino's vs Papa John's: If you order pizza from a restaurant, Hungry Howie's and Domino's are both in Davidson. I'm first going to order from HH because I know the owner. If I don't order from there, then I'll go to Domino's. But between these two, there's no reason to ever order from outside of Davidson Co - Papa John's pizza isn't that much better. (BTW, we don't actually order pizza , we make it ourselves from scratch at home)
3. Davidson Auto Parts vs Auto Zone vs Advance Auto: If you do your own auto repairs or need some item for your car, there are two Davidson Co alternatives. First in Arcadia there is Davidson Auto Parts - this is going to be a locally owned option. If they don't have what you need, there is a Auto Zone in the Food Lion Shopping Center where Eckerd's use to be. Both of these are much more convenient than having to go into town, but if you must, then there is an Advance Auto and another Auto Zone just up 150. Around here you can judge convenience by how many "lights" up 150 you have to go - the more lights, the less convenient.
   
4. Exxon vs Sheetz vs Murray USA vs some other guy - but NOT the QM/Quik Chek: The Exxon is an icon here is Arcadia and Reedy Creek. It's positioned at a major cross road and our only traffic light, but it's been around a looong time. While I'll only actually buy gas from here 2 times out of 10, I'll but gas from there versus the Quik Chek or QM on 150 next to Steven's. Several years ago when there was a false gas shortage and everyone made a run on gas and places were out, the QM/Quik Chek gouged their price per gallon by doubling it. Many people reported this to the NC Attorney General and they were fined and corrected it. They now follow the price of the Sheetz, but they'll never get a dime of my money as long as I'm alive. A local business should be loyal to it's customers, just as I'm encouraging you to be loyal to them. Quik Chek was not! Generally, though I'm going to the cheapest local price which is usually Sheetz, so I buy from Sheetz 7 out of 10 times. I'm glad they are in Davidson Co. If you do buy gas there you need to get a My Sheetz Card and use it because it will give you a discount on gas after you've purchased so much. The last 1 out of 10 times, I'll probably buy from Murray USA at Wal-Mart, but that's supporting that Wal-Mart location having and keeping such as option.

You get the idea. There are local alternatives avaiable for just about every product and service you need. But start looking around the corner in you community and then expand your circle out from there to your county, the city or county next to you or YOUR state.

One very useful tool to find businesses local to you is the Google Maps Local Search.

Just put in you zip code or address and click "Search Maps

When the results are "pinned" on the map, click the pin and a information balloon will pop up. Click the "Search Nearby" link

Then enter either a specific business name like "Auto Zone" or a category link "Auto Parts"and click search. Browse the results for a local alternative.

My request is that where ever you are make your dollar count for something. When given a choice, chose local. Start with one or two local decision or changes and grow from there as you find other options. Then share your find with others. Another benefit to shopping local, is you might run into a neighbor, a friend, a parent of your child's friend, a classmate and that helps build a sense of community  - and that is priceless!