yes, the amazing farmers market

yes, everything is beyond beautiful at the farmers market right now and has been all season.  regardless of when it first starts back in early May, or now, or at the end of the season right before Thanksgiving and even through winter.  the farmers market is always amazing.  and that's because these folks bring the best of Mother Nature right to my city. 

most of you know how i feel about this abundant luxury and gift we have in most towns and cities across the entire county and globe.  the fact that this food has travelled so few miles, has such powerful energy within it and is just so damn good...it fills your soul.  how  does anyone not take advantage of this every week i ask?  i am not sure still.  

earlier this year, before the market started, i was asked to write an article for a small local non-profit that supports and promotes the farmers markets here about "why go to the farmers market?"  i reiterated much of what i shared last year on this topic with some expansion into the energetic of the season and the food and the benefits to your body.  

for now, i thought i would show you some of the beauty that's there and this is just the tip of the market.  i am loyal to a handful of farmers that i have built my relationships with over time and try to reach out to a new one each season. they are truly wonderful people and they work so ridiculously hard.  i am deeply grateful for them and their gifts.  
be well.  enjoy.

rhubarb

golden and chioggia beets

garlic scales

sugar snap peas

onions onions and walla walla onions

lettuce & greens wall

rainbow carrots - they don't always need to be orange 

swiss chard like nobody's business

the baker from heaven here on earth...oh my gosh!

the breads 

the ridiculously addictive, orgasmic croissants

the flavors of the week - makes pb&j seem elegant

my farmer, eddy gast, & his succulent collections that also adorn my porch

his peonies whose sweet smell just keeps giving

rudbeckia to brighten any garden

coleus to add pizzazz to your container

OH PEACHES - white, yellow, orange - divine

plums of all colors, apricots & the TOMATOES just started coming in

i have no words for how they taste - beautiful.

cheery cherries

blueberries blueberries blueberries

lilies. need i say more.

it's now gladiola season & the combo is stunning

throw in some snapdragons in rich jewel tones

  

and then there's the TUBEROSE.  you might not have have ever 

experienced a flower as divine as this one.  yes, it ranks above lilies

& sits high next to gardenia and jasmine.  

there is nothing more intoxicating that this smell

that is released in the evening.  sublime.

and that is just some of the abundant gifts i relish.

porch sanctuary

at last.  amid all the upset during this past month, i managed to plant the porch sanctuary that many have come to enjoy with us.  i decided this year to change things up quite a bit and create a collage of texture & color versus the blocking and massing i have done in the past.  

first a note of deep gratitude to my farmer, eddy gast, who is by far the most knowledgable on all plants, vegetables/fruits, farm animals.  he carries on in the traditions of heirlooms and original variants of the plants and foods he grows & shares.  his succulents are stunning and his creativity in his combining leaves me in awe always.  many of the beauties adorn the porch.  i simply stare every day at their beauty.  thank you eddy.

now that's not to say that i am not in awe of all the other beauties that mother nature provides for me.  i am.  contiuously.  even this morning early as i rode up to the mother of beauties - the chicago botanical gardens - i slowly strolled through with a friend mesmerized by every petal, needle, swaying branch and blossom.   the porch sanctuary is no different. 

i am also deeply grateful to have this porch period.  the space to be creative each season.  the space to be still while watching hummingbirds sip sugar nectar, robins & starlings splash like no one's watching during their baths & finches squeak away pecking away at niger seed upside down on the feeder.   the space to meditate.  the space to have friends over for feasts and so much more.  

so enjoy the menagerie of mother nature.  i do every day.  be well.