I made a little pledge to myself at the end of the season last year, that I wouldn't buy any strawberries, blueberries or tomatoes until they were back in season locally.
Honestly, It was a looooong wait.
One of my friends gave me a good scolding a few months ago telling me that we live in a modern world now. We don't need to deprive ourselves and wait for food to be in season locally. This, of course, is quite true but I am a stubborn little mule and once I set my mind to something, I'm all in.
The other morning, Sweets and I went out into our garden and harvested our very first strawberries of the season. Plucked just steps from our front door, it doesn't get much more local than this. And of my goodness, they were such perfection! Fragrant, juicy and sweet; they required absolutely no adornment. After waiting for so many months, we were quite happy to eat them one at a time, slowly, all by themselves.
The waiting was totally worth it.
Now I'm waiting for those heirloom tomatoes we planted to hurry up and start producing. I've just boldly used up all the sundried tomatoes I put up in the fall in anticipation of a new crop.