You guys. Today is a big day! Today marks the five-year anniversary of the day I cautiously served up my first blog post, inviting you all into my kitchen and my world, and hoping that you’d like it.

I’ve spent this week trying to figure out how to mark this occasion. There’s been quite a lot of late-night writing, re-writing, reading, and immediate deleting.  In the course of that work, poignant memories unearthed themselves and forced their way to the forefront of my mind. I reminisced at length about the two months I spent developing the site, stumbling my way through the coding to get everything to look just exactly the way I wanted. I chuckled about the early days, when I spent most evenings perched on chairs or counter tops balancing a tripod precariously against the ceiling to get the shot I wanted, only to discover that the muted, incandescent light in my kitchen was the actual WORST. I looked back through my posts, clicking through them one at a time, amazed at the memories that each one elicits. The times and places they evoke.

A lot has changed. Since this date five years ago, I’ve switched jobs three times. Moved four. Lived in three different states with very different growing seasons. I’ve joined three community gardens and have failed spectacularly at three balcony gardens. I’ve swapped cheap Teflon pans for stainless steel, and my meager collection of college dishes has been supplanted by an arsenal of culinary tools for everything from canning to wedding cake baking.  Recipes that I once perceived as daunting, showy meals have now worked their way into my regular weeknight rotation. My weekly pilgrimage to the farmers market for groceries is no longer a novelty but a way of life.

Food blogs don’t seem to be quite the craze that they used to be, and I long ago made my peace with the fact that I will not likely be the next Deb Perelman or Joy Wilson. But I still get such joy out of the cooking, photographing, writing, and sharing that happens on this little site. This blog has always been a creative outlet for me, but I hope you’ve gotten a little enjoyment out of it in the process too.

Speaking of enjoyment, I think I’m done waxing poetic for the day. There’s a balcony full of sunshine waiting for me, so it seems a shame to miss out.

Happy birthday, 30 Pounds of Apples! Here’s to another five years!

The truth is I have struggled over the last few months. Despite the fact that I work fewer hours, have more days off, and enjoy a kitchen filled with natural light, I’ve found myself groaning over the notion of cooking even familiar meals and not in the least bit interested in climbing atop a step stool angling for a shot. The muse that once perched on my shoulder whispering words, recipes, and stories into my eager ears seems to have folded her arms and sealed her lips. I’ve become increasingly frustrated that I can’t seem to get back into the productive rhythm to which I had grown so accustomed in North Carolina and have spent a lot of time trying to figure out why. Did I really manage to pack up everything I owned but forget to bring with me my inspiration, my drive for sharing this locavore’s story Is it still sitting on the counter in my dimly-lit kitchen, or perhaps hiding in the grass next to my ever-fertile community garden plot?

Or did it survive the move after all, frozen but intact despite this deeply unpleasant winter, but is simply too nervous to peek its head out for fear of another frost?

Part of it, perhaps, has been the stark contrast in growing seasons between Ohio and North Carolina. For all the pleasant surprise I experienced in a place where strawberries flourished in April, I’ve experienced just as much disappointment at how long is has seemed to take fresh produce to make its way to the farmers markets here.

To be sure, there are some benefits to the local fare in the north: I’ve been happily buying apples since I arrived in January, stored from the prolific orchards that seem to do well here in the cooler climes. There’s a fair amount of locally-raised meat available, and I pretty much have my pick of any kind of local cheese I could possibly want. But each week of the last month or so, as I’ve walked into the indoor winter farmers market north of Columbus, I’ve thought, this is the week I’ll walk home with a grocery bag heavy with asparagus, radishes, sweet peas, strawberries, and rhubarb.

It has yet to be that week.

But I think it might be coming soon. The trees have burst into blossoms in the last couple of weeks, the days are warmer, and I attended the first outdoor farmers market of the season this weekend: sure signs that the farms and gardens that wreathe the city are beginning production once more.

It’s going to be quite an adjustment to keep up my quest for local eating in a colder climate. Not impossible, but harder. I’m already looking ahead to August and September and contemplating what I may need to can to get through the much longer winters. I will probably need to get more creative with my recipes from January through April since a bounty of fresh local produce simply won’t exist.

It’s funny how these things become a part of you. How these ideas turn into hobbies, the hobbies become quests, and the quests begin to define you. I’ve been worried that the renaissance I experienced as a cook, a writer, and a photographer in the early days of this blog has passed, but instead of deciding to throw in the towel and turn in my domain name, I feel guilty when I realize how long it’s been since my last post. Like I’ve abandoned someone I love. Or worse, myself.

I am, however, optimistic. It might have been foolish to think that I could just pick up where I left off, that my adjustment to an entirely new city, new job, new apartment, and new foodscape would be seamless. Perhaps I just needed some hibernation, some time to accept what I no longer have access to, before I could really appreciate what I do have here. A sunny, light-filled home that overlooks a park and a gently flowing river. A vibrant city filled with fascinating restaurants, cafés, and food trucks. A balcony with enough sunshine to grow food (though maybe a bit too much wind, more on that later), and a rooftop garden at my job (more on that too).  An entirely new climate to learn about, new farmers to meet, and a new understanding of what is in season and when.

Like spring, I think I’m waking up now, and ready to get back to it.

It’s Earth Day! I try my best to make every day an Earth Day, but I do so love that this pretty planet has a holiday all to itself. Over the years, I’ve celebrated Earth Day in a variety of ways: planting seeds in milk cartons to watch them grow, attending festivals where local food stands front and center, marathoning Wall-E  and Fern Gully, or just getting outside to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air which we are so lucky to have.

This year, I have yet another way to celebrate: today marks the first birthday of 30 Pounds of Apples!

I know a year of blogging isn’t really a huge deal: some of the blogs I read have been pumping out new content for five, eight, or ten years. But a little over a year ago, when I published my first post, I was still trying to convince myself that this idea was sane. As it turns out, the cooking, photographing, gardening, writing, and sharing that go into this site have brought me more happiness than I ever expected.

I’ve spent the last few days reflecting on what I’ve learned over the last twelve months, where I’ve flubbed up, and what I’m looking forward to before the next blog-o-versary comes to pass. There are many methods by which I can sum up the last year, and I want to share a few of them with you.

So without further ado, consider this the first-year highlights reel of 30 Pounds of Apples.

Top 5 Most Popular Posts
Based on Google Analytics numbers, these posts had more visits this year than any other.

Top 5 Challenges
It’s not all sunshine. Keeping this blog going is a lot of work, and these challenges were sometimes difficult to overcome.

Web “Design”
The quotes aren’t meant to belittle web design as an art. If anything, I’ve gained immense respect for programmers and web designers through the construction of this site. I sometimes spend hours on a cosmetic change or functionality upgrade. Frankly, it’s a miracle the whole thing functions at all.

Time
The time needed to find a recipe, prepare that recipe, photograph the process, sort through photos, edit photos, write and re-write a post, and share that post is often quite daunting. I’m in awe of food bloggers who manage to post every day or so: it’s all I can do to get up two posts a week.

Light
My kitchen is dark. There is no window. The light fixture that we have is lame. Hence, every photo I take in the kitchen is on a tripod. Ever wonder why so many of my final shots are on my porch?

Writer’s Block
And cooker’s block. And photographer’s block. Sometimes I just flat-out haven’t felt like doing this. Fortunately, inspiration has returned after every bout of doldrums, and I imagine it will continue to do so.

Flubs
A disastrous strawberry rhubarb pie. Caramel sauce blackened on the bottom of the pan. Zucchini plant smote by squash bugs. Not installing google analytics until six months into posting. To be fair, the successes have drastically outnumbered the failures, but for some reason, the failures tend to prod more easily at me. Why is that?

Top 5 Favorite Posts
My favorites, that is. For one reason or another, these ones make me smile just a teensy bit more than the rest.

Top 5 Goals for This Year
It’s been a great year, but I have so much more to do! Here’s a few of the things I have set my sights on.

Grow More Food
The more I grow myself, the less I have to buy, and the closer I’ll be to eating as locally as possible.

Post More Often
I know, I know, I just mentioned that I have a severe deficit of time, but it’s still my goal  to post every third day or so.

Preserve More Food
Water canner Check. Canning buddy Check. Seemingly endless bounty of local produce Check. I’m so pumped to see just how much food I can put away this summer, and curious about how long it will last me through the winter.

Upgrades!
If you look around the site today, you’ll notice some upgrades in place already, mostly in the form of new graphics from the amazing Sara and updated content on the pages in the menu bar. Soon, I hope, I’ll have new ways to browse for recipes, an even more specific recipe index, and who knows what else (the plugins out there are endless).

Read More
I must confess, now that a large swath of my free time is spent on something to do with 30 Pounds, reading has diminished in priority. But there is SO MUCH to read out there, I really need to nip that habit in the bud and move books back up on the priority list.

Top 5 Favorite Photos
I’ve shot, sorted, deleted, edited, or posted thousands of photos for this site. These are a few of the keepers that I really, really like.

From Cranberry Orange Cheesecake

From Homemade Sugar Scrubs, Two Ways

From Mini Holiday Cheesecakes

From Community Garden: Sprouts!

From Mini Pumpkin Cream Pies

So there you have it. A year of blogging summed up by this list-maniac. Did I miss any of your favorites Is there something you want to see more of this year I’d love to hear from you!

But first, I want to say thank you. Thank you to all who read, to those who just stop by for a photo or a recipe, and to those who share their thoughts. I write this blog for my own entertainment, to be sure, but I also genuinely hope that the photos here make you smile. That the recipes make you hungry. That the stories and my sometimes mindless blabbering help you deal with something in your own life. I can’t say enough how happy I am that you’re here.

So happy Earth Day, happy birthday, and here’s to another year!