Eating local:Sourcing local produce & becoming green~fingered

I‘ ve been meaning to do another 100 mile post for awhile but just haven‘t managed to get round to it, what with so many other posts crying out to be written!
As the economy in Spain is going through a bad patch at the moment and things seem to be going from bad to worse, one way we can all help out is by buying food locally and in this way, helping the local economy and cutting down on food miles. However, sourcing local produce can be quite difficult as I have come to realise as you may not have the time to visit different supermarkets or go directly to the local supplier particularly if you are a working mum!
 Granja Real,is a local supplier of fresh meat such as turkey,chicken and other meat.They also sell sausages chorizo, prepared hamburgers, black pudding, pinchos morunos (meat kebabs)spare ribs and lomo (pork loin) and even eggs. You can find their products in some supermarkets such as LeClerc or El Pollo Feliz (for some reason LeClerc doesn´t sell their eggs only their meat but you can find their eggs in El Pollo Feliz or Covirán.For information about Granja Real,click on the link provided.

I have to admit that I haven´t been buying so locally,not even many of the products mentioned in my previous  Eating Local post,mainly for example things like milk I prefer to buy in cartons,not in bags and although I´ve been checking the labels,most food I buy is not produced in Castilla La Mancha!It´s very difficult to find locally produced food at least in the supermarkets although I could be wrong!

Another way you can cut down on food miles and make sure you are getting fresh and organic produce is by growing it yourself! Don´t let the fact that you might not have a garden, stop you! If you have a balcony however little it is, you can grow some herbs or even fruit or vegetables and even if you don´t have any outdoor space,you could grow some herbs indoors on the window sill! I´ve never really been much of a gardener but this year I´ve decided to try and grow a few herbs on my balcony so that I have fresh herbs and also because when I buy herbs from the supermarket, I only use a little of it and then it goes off or dies!! So far, I am trying to grow rhubarb....it was doing well till I replanted it and one stalk died and another leaf has gone a bit yellowy-not sure if it´s the heat or if I´ve been overwatering it, coriander.....it has flowered now so I think it´s going to die but I´m going to let it go to seed,then I can use some of the seed as dried spices and plant the rest!I also have basil,however it died almost straight away so I have bought another plant to see how that goes on and also oregano,which seems to be doing well at the moment.I have also picked some bay leaves from a tree at my inlaw´s house so again it is local!If you would like to have a go at growing your own but haven´t got any outdoor space, you could always rent an allotment space at Las Huertas Ecologícas.

In both Eroski and Carrefour there are sections selling local food from Castilla La Mancha,however in Carrefour there is only a small range of products and in Eroski, it is mainly limited to patés, wine,cheese and tinned goods such as pisto,asadillo etc.

I will continue trying to souch more local produce and buy as locally as possible although it seems like a pretty difficult task!