Uh-oh: I’m taking the 3rd Annual Dark Days Challenge!

You know how sometimes you do things impulsively, how — in a fit of passion and optimism — you make a big, overly ambitious plan?

Well, I did that a couple weeks ago when I signed up for the 3rd Annual Dark Days of Winter Eat Local Challenge.

After following Laura McCrae’s (not so) Urban Hennery blog for about three years, I finally decided to write about her adventures in local eating. (You can read that story, from Sunday’s edition of The Herald, here.)

Then I got a wild hair and decided I could somehow take part in her challenge: Cook one meal a week using sustainable, organic, local, ethical ingredients. Then report back on how it all turns out with photos, stories and recipes on your blog (or just comment on her site each week) Nov. 15 through March 31.

Why did I do this?

Unlike Laura, I have no hens for year-round eggs. I don’t have stores of local meat and veggies in a big freezer or in the pantry.

Though I normally garden for food, my family moved to the Edmonds Bowl in July, leaving behind a garden in Green Lake in Seattle, so I don’t even have a single carrot overwintering at our new home.

Sure, I could have prepared by freezing stuff from the now-closed-for-the-season Edmonds Farmers Market, but I’ve been busy with my husband, Matt, and our 18-month-old son, Sam.

How on earth am I going to eat local, even once per week, this winter?

I guess that’s why they call it a challenge. Even Laura had to start somewhere.

After writing about eating local for years now and talking the talk, I’m finally going to have to walk the walk.

Here’s my eat-local game plan.

• First, I’m going to reinstate my subscription to SPUD, a local grocery delivery service that specialized in local products and produce. Though SPUD considers even some British Columbia things to be local (such as mushrooms), I will only use ingredients for the challenge that are from Washington. That’s a much wider radius than Laura’s 150 miles, but I think it’s the only realistic way for me to actually complete this challenge. Did I mention I have a toddler?
• I’m going to start dragging my family to the local year-round farmers markets, most likely the U District (Saturdays) and Ballard (Sundays) to stock up on meat, dairy and produce and products I can’t get delivered. I am actually going to read the newsletter from the Cascade Harvest Coalition and Seattle’s Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance that shows what’s “ripe and ready” at the farmers market every week. The answer is always: A LOT! (Note: Apparently, it’s still possible to get a local Thanksgiving turkey at the markets.)
• I’m going to hit the Sno-Isle Food Co-op in Everett (across the street from The Herald) and the Manna Mills natural market in Mountlake Terrace (on my way home from work). Both have local products, but I don’t shop at either place regularly yet, so I’ll have to get acquainted. I might also order some stuff from Bluebird Grain Farms in the Methow Valley.
• Finally, I’m going to be using the Puget Sound Fresh searchable Web site a LOT more often. I think it is the single best resource for finding local food in the region.

Those are good places to start, I think. In the long term, I’d like to get a freezer for some local meat, purchased in bulk. I’d like backyard hens (whenever Edmonds makes it legal, if they haven’t already). And I hope to can and freeze produce next summer from my own garden, which still needs building (raised beds) at our new house.

Honestly, I’m really excited. I know this is going to push me out of my comfort zone and force me to try new things, like maybe truly local mushrooms (check out the pic from the U District Farmers Market with this post) and local cider and … so much more.

What do you think of all this? Are you taking the challenge? Any pointers to share?

Write me here.

Watch this space for weekly updates from me as well as (not so) Urban Hennery blog, where you’ll find weekly roundups of all the bloggers — about 50 from around the country — taking part in the challenge.