Nature!

Battery Park

 For a number of reasons, primarily the arrival of spring and the opening of the farmers' market, I've been thinking a lot about nature.

 I was happy when Mary of Uncustomary picked this as her monthly theme.

My walks in Battery Park with my grand have also made me aware changes in the season - with the little yellow flowers in abundance. My grand loves to pick them. Are they buttercups? I don't know. 

Battery Park

I love walking down the path towards the children's play area and having my grand get so happy about the flowers and the sweet gum balls that are all over the ground.

The market at Byrd House opened yesterday and my CSA had the most beautiful produce.

I got some curley kale, some peppermint chard, some asparagus, radishes, and salad greens.  I'm going so happy to have produce fresh from the fields again. Oh and eggs from really free range out in the open hens. I know my farmers! It's all real and tastes so good.

Here are the French radishes that I like to eat as a snack, crunchy and slightly spicy.

Everything is organic,

except these strawberries. They family says that they're not certified but hold to many organic practices. Hmmm. They're very tasty, sweet and juicy. 

Being part of a CSA since 2001, I've been made aware of buying local and seasonal. This really puts one in touch with nature. Tomatoes only grow certain times of the year, wow, not like year round in the grocery stores. Ditto all our other produce. It's seasonal!! It's nature.

Also, since I've gotten on Instagram, I'm taking lots of photos of flowers. Nature at it's prettiest.

After a long, cold winter, oh spring, I like you so much!!

Vendredi (Friday) More images

Here's a assortment of things that I saw yesterday...the view of the back of St. Paul's church in the misty afternoon. A very large photo by Shirana Shahbazi, an Iranian photographer, who has a show at the Swiss Cultural Centre, (more of her photos on my Flickr) and some beautiful pastries and vegetables that Chuck photographed for me, while I was busy shopping. For those of you who have't tried the radish spread, the recipe is here.

Farmers' Market

We're winding down at the Farmers' Market with only two more market days. However, you'd never know it by the quantity of produce that my farmer brings to market. It looked prettier than ever this past Thursday. I've posted a recipe using beets here.

Market update

Yesterday was a slow day at the market. It was nice weather, sunny but not so humid, a nice change, but not so many people. Maybe it's vacation time? We had gorgeous eggplants, radishes and tomatoes, plus lots of other veggies. We had a young helper, who was a very good worker. I'm wearing a blouse made by Mayan women in Chiapas, Mexico. Amy, the organic farmer whose stand is across from ours, buys them directly and sells them at the market. I never wear this much color, but I really liked this shirt and thought it was perfect for being a veggie vender.

The wooden bowl was a gift for Chuck. It's walnut wood and made by Tom Lowe, who does really beautiful wooden pieces.

Bonnie is also across from us and brightens our view with her great tie-dye items. She's so good at this. Have you ever tried to do more than one color? I can only do single dye but she does really intricate multiple colors.

Market day

I work for Victory Farms of Hanover of Thursday mornings at the Farmers' Market, as some of you know. I just love it. It's so nice to talk with people about produce, exchange recipes, buy things from other vendors, like today fresh local strawberries that were so yummy.


I liked the way this person's market basket look, filled with her produce choices.


The French radishes are my favorites. I like to eat them raw, or on bread with butter. Lots of people like my radish spread...here's a simple recipe. Put a package of cream cheese, half that amount of butter, and some of the radishes in a food processor and whirl away. You can also add some green olives with pimiento, or even some carrots. You don't need to add any seasonings. If you're vegan just substitute the non-dairy products for the dairy version, of course. It's really a good summery spread for crackers.

Last week was the first time I tried fresh garlic. Here's what it looks like.