Fresh Picked

I love collecting fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market. I wish we lived in a climate where we harvested year round. Would I ever start to take it for granted then? It's hard to imagine.

I've enjoyed taking my kids with me since Soph was just a baby. This year, I've been a little bit lazy or spoiled, whatever you want to call it. The market is only a block from my gym, so, I've been slipping over by myself right after yoga and leisurely perusing the produce stands, carefree and alone with my thoughts (for all of 15 minutes, it's not that big of a market, but moms have to take solitude wherever they can find it).

Last night Photoguy worked the late shift at the newspaper in Salt Lake, then he crashed at his parents house so he could maximize his sleep time before running the Park City marathon at 6 a.m. So, no yoga. No excuse to leisurely peruse. Instead the munchkins and I stayed up late, slept in, and headed to the farmer's market as soon as we woke up.

The kids brought their scooters and glided up and down the sidewalk past colorful piles of veggies. We sampled some fresh honey and studied a glass encasement of the bees busily working away at making more. I bought oodles of fresh yummies and some kettle corn because the kids and I love it. After a stop at the playground, and a walk around the amphitheater, we coasted to the car and headed home.

In answer to the cries of, "I'm hungry," I sliced up a watermelon and arranged the pieces on a plate like a tall watermelon cake. I boiled up some triple sweet corn on the cob and stacked the rest of the produce in a pile in the center of the table (to serve as inspiration for an art project later). We gobbled up that watermelon and corn and -- Oh. My. Gosh. When has corn ever tasted so good? Soph, E-Man and I were practically licking our plates clean and E-Man even said, "This tastes like candy!"

Then, I broke out the watercolors and told the kids to paint their impressions of the farmer's market. I think we were all feeling really inspired and buzzed by the triple sweet corn as we invented our masterpieces. E-Man chose to paint a mini pumpkin instead of a picture.

The house is in shambles, I didn't shower until noon, and I still haven't combed through Soph's hair. But, we sure had a great time together today.

In other news, the garden is going notsogreat. I had grand visions of teaching the kids the value of work as we weeded together. Instead, each time they tried to pull weeds we lost at least five corn plants to being trampled under their little feet. Plus, I told Photoguy that I could only stomach weeding one half of the garden. He planted the whole thing. So, it's no real surprise that all is now overgrown with weeds. It's too big of a space. It overwhelms me when I look at it. I just walk outside, take one peek, get tired and go back inside. Most of the plants are dying. I was checking it out today and it looks like we will harvest a few tomatillos and some sort of squash or pumpkin thing. A handful of harvest from over 100 plants. I'm sure it didn't help that we planted on July 7th (just a tad bit late). But, truly I've given up on the whole garden thing. I have invested way too much thought, energy and money in something that stresses me out and fails to yield a harvest year after year. I was hoping the "three's the charm" theory would apply to the garden this time. But, I am d-o-n-e. No more gardens for me. Not unless we move to another house. Perhaps I would be inspired to try a garden in a new space. Or, if I ever build me a nice little 4x4 planter . . . maybe.

Sigh. At least we have the farmer's market!