Little Bites: Stock Up for Winter

This column is titled “Little Bites,” but this week, the content is a bit bulky.

Right now, countless mice are busy storing up goods for the long cold winter ahead. (OK, all except that naughty poet-mouse Frederick, who only stores up colorful poems to tell to his friends in the dead of winter. If you’ve never read the children’s book, “Frederick,” by Leo Lionni, it’s well worth your time—even for adults.)

Meanwhile, you too can be like the industrious mice in “Frederick,” only you won’t have to steal corn from the neighbor’s field to do so.

Central Oregon Locavore’s Fill Your Pantry event, taking place Nov. 19, is a community bulk buying event that lets you stock your pantry with local products that will get you through the winter. Think of it as the last chance farmer’s market before winter arrives.

Buying in bulk at events like this allows vendors to move product before the harsh Central Oregon winter when most farmers have few opportunities to sell goods.

Items include onions, leeks, potatoes, winter squash, garlic, beets, honey, flour, pears, apples, beans, krauts, nuts, cheese and more—all in large bags. For example, 20 lb. bags of onions and half wheels of cheese. In other words, if you’re going, you’ll need some muscles… or to bring a muscle-bound helper who can do the heavy lifting for you.

Pre-ordering goes through Nov. 10. You don’t have to pre-order to take part, but (to borrow another creature-themed image) the early bird does get the worm.