Stillman's

So, today I dropped my 4YO off at school and made my way the 5.4 miles (10 mins) to Oakridge Farm. I got my 2YO out and carried him over the mud piles, then lifted the baby seat out of the car and with the seat hanging from one arm and my toddler on the other hip, I made my way to the door. It had one of those, "Caution, Automatic Door" signs that a mother with no free hands loves to see. I stepped right up to it. Then closer. Then peered in to the darkened room through the firmly shut door.

I've no idea why they were closed. There was no sign to explain. I loaded the kids back in the car, and drove off to Nanna's house. There's construction by Nanna's house and my 2YO loves watching the backhoes. By then it was too late to go to the grocery store to pick up the meat, eggs, and milk that I needed because as soon as I got in there the baby would surely wake up hungry; 2YOs and screaming hungry babies do not a fun shopping trip make.

The day went on and we went back to school for pickup. Luckily, I mentioned the Oakridge closing to a friend. She clued me in to a place not farther up the road called Stillman's that had all local meat, eggs, and milk, and seasonally they have fresh produce and a CSA you can buy into. She was on her way there so I decided to chance it and bring all three kids, awake and at lunch time.



"Can we go, this place is stinky!"

Yup, it was a real dairy farm. The smell was as authentic as they come. The place was tiny and unpolished, and unfortunately the only fresh meat they sold was ground beef. I did grab 2 lbs of meat, eggs, 1/2 a gallon of milk in a glass jug, a small container of local maple syrup and some local honey; costing $25.61. It was one of my biggest achievements yet in attempting to find local foods. I look forward to seeing what they have to offer in the spring. Unfortunately, even though it is only 9.8 miles from my home, it's a 25 minutes drive. A long way to go for groceries. Plus, there's only so many ways I can think to mix together ground beef, eggs, milk, maple syrup and honey to make new and creative dishes. I suppose I could come up with a casserole or two...maybe some honey coated meat loaf? Wait, I still need bread crumbs for that. Well, one way or another, if I'm going to eat local I'll have to find some other ingredients.