I bought 6 potatoes, a leek and a parsnip this afternoon, all of which were grown in Washington. It's a moment of bittersweet pride. While I'm not absolutely positive, I believe these are the first non-animal (ie, dairy or meat), first non-treat (ie, Christmas oranges) produce items purchased since our local Farmers' Market closed at the end of last October. We've been merrily munching along all winter on produce acquired at said market: dried peppers and carrots, canned tomatoes, frozen zucchini, stored butternut squash. I didn't buy any potatoes at the end of the market since we had the ones from our garden. Next time, though, I think that if our potato crop isn't bigger, I'll supplement.

The leek, I'll admit, was an impulse buy. I was thinking potatoes and parsnip for a soup a la Variations on a Minestrone Theme, but there it was: something Washington-grown, and green. We'll have potato-leek soup instead, and save the minestrone for next week...