Today I rectified my months-long absence from the local Farmer’s Market. I headed out early, wanting some meat before all my favorite cuts were sold out.

My most frequented market here is actually held in a mall parking lot. Great use of unused space, if you ask me. Plenty of parking, no grass to get worn down week after week (or dust or mud.) Normally I am anti-concrete, but if.it’s already there then I am pro using it as often as possible.

I took our pooch this time. His second visit. My first time taking him without my dear other half (DH) there to tag team the balance of wrangling an excited 85 lbs while shopping. After a few laps around and no sign of chilling out, he went to the car so I could shop.

Aside from supporting local, organic, delicious food production and the folks that make it happen, the market helps my gardening in a few ways:

-I can see what will grow in my region. What the books say and what is possible exactly here, do not always match.
-I can save seeds! It’s a shot in the dark if they’ll be true to type or sprout at all, but it’s fun.
-I can tweak my timing. If I am buying cauliflower and kale now, I can calculate backwards to find a good sowing date. If a variety for sale now takes 100 days until harvest, next year I can sow it Sept 20th.
-I can ask questions about how my food was grown. If they are up to their ears in broccoli and mine is slowly plodding along, they may have some tips to learn from.

But now it’s time to grab some lunch and head out into the garden, more later!