Staying Cool: Chickory Style

Saturday Mornings at the Farmer's Market

Friday nights have become busy nights for me. Gone are the afternoons at the Blue Ridge Brewery hanging out with friends. Now, I spend Friday evenings in the ditches looking for wildflowers, making chicken paintings on plywood, and prepping my vegetables for sale. The combination of wildflowers and garden flowers is a pleasing mix; many people have commented on the inclusion of blackberry vines...they add a country charm as well as texture and striking color in black and bright red. I think the bouquets speak to the goodness of home and simple pleasures. This is not a mix you can pick up wrapped in cellophane at the grocery.


I am proud to announce that Chef Danny at Harvest on Main bought my cherry tomatoes for the restaurant.


Susan parks next to me and specializes in heirloom tomatoes and potted herbs. Last weekend she gave me a green zebra heirloom that i am saving the seeds to plant next year. I have some black prince, cherokee purples and pineapple tomatoes that will be ready for this weeks market. But i could never top Susan's variety - and they are in such beautiful shape too.


The Tin Man is an old marine vet that makes these guys....i bought the one on the right. He's pretty big, his chest is one of those mini Heineken kegs. He only charges $8 for these things!


The corn is coming in now. When i see it, i get a tiny vibe of fall coming. and lately, though its hot, i see little signs of the change. Growing a garden has tuned me into the slight shifts in light and color.


Everybody's tomatoes are coming in. Its time for canning. I don't know how to do it, but there is a community cannery and i heard they have people from the technical school there to help greenhorns like myself with the process. I only planted 2 rows of beans and ate them all. So i just have tomatoes and squash and cucumbers to preserve. I dont know why i grew the cucumbers. i dont even like them. Actually, i dont love the summer foods. I like the spring foods much more.


Nice presentation of beans!


These are spaghetti squashes. When you cut them open, the fleshy part inside is stringy - like spaghetti.


The blueberry girl. I wish my bushes had produced more but i did the wrong thing to them in spring by giving them lime. Wrong! They like acidic soil. I have a few, but i mostly just eat them as i work in the garden. There isnt enough to do anything with them.


Every week i buy artisan bread from the Queen ladies. Their breads are delicious. And for you foodies, you really need to check out Hannah Queen's beautiful food blog Honey and Jam. At only 19 years old, Hannah is a gifted photographer and her blog just sings with beauty. There are a lot of recipes on her site too, so check her out and tell her chickory sent you.


This guy won a bunch of first place ribbons at the Georgia State Fair for his salsas, jams and pickles. He always sells out on Saturdays.




Back home on saturday afternoon i spent some time just hanging out on the porch with V and the dogs where it is nice and cool. V made me a table for my art studio while i was at the farmers market and it was a very nice surprise. I will post pictures of the studio soon - I have moved in but i still dont have any siding.


Today I am working on weeding (after 6 pm, that is) and on my new "product" for this saturday, which i will post maybe tomorrow. I found a way to use all the triangle pieces the builders left after building my stairs. Can you guess what they are going to be? First right answer gets one as a prize.

Feed Me Frida

In honor of Frida Kaho's birthday yesterday, I am re-posting a poem I wrote after my neck surgery. It seems as appropriate as ever - it speaks to the fragility of the collective spirit this summer.


frida catch me
it seems i've fallen
lay me beside your broken column
be my sister
be my guide
my patron saint when bones collide
send me a blackbird
she'll soothe my frown
and i shall stare the curious down



frida watch me
i'll weather this storm
surgeons and pins remaking my form
our sky's grown dark
the earth it's cracked
let beauty and grace keep us intact


frida see me
im the little deer
however severe
i'll be of good cheer
be my sister
be my guide



take me where fearless painters reside
lets soar above
that broken limb
and paint our way out of the trouble we're in

frida watch me
i'll heal in the forest
let there be fusion wherever its porous
the lighting cracked
the river it rages
let beauty and grace flow onto our pages


frida feed me
just like your nurse
the love embrace
of the universe
be my sister
be my guide
we'll trust that abundance will always provide

lets sip the nectar
from our creative protector
and we'll dismiss that sorrowful spectre

frida hold me
I'm sleepy now
that's all the writing these meds will allow
it's raining tonight
i hear it falling
let beauty and grace be our highest calling