Sunday, August 23, 2009

Early Birds & People's Markets

“All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.” - John Gunther

Let's take a poll! What makes you more jealous?
1) The fact that I scored a picture-perfect heirloom Brandywine tomato?
2) Because it only cost me 50 cents?
3) Or, because said tomato is resting nicely on my very own 'souvenir of Wyoming' dinner plate? [Oh, yeah! Am I cool... or what?]

Crawled out of bed at an unheard of hour ~ 6 a.m. ~ on a Saturday!

I run a lazy household. So lazy, in fact that when I grabbed the scissors and bee-lined it to the gardens that early in the morning I knew I'd be heading out there alone.

Bad Dog is not that co-dependent.
He glared at me with one sleepy eye, rolled over and went back to bed.

I scored that simply fabulous heirloom tomato at Mitchell's Market.

Meet Mitchell, prince of the heirloom tomatoes. [Mitchell's Mom is Queen.]

This early morning, scissor-happy, frenzy was on account of bloggers, Needles of Iron and sister, Just-A-Mere coming to town, to celebrate the birth of granddaughter, Bebe Bean. I was madly snipping a little bit of every pink flower blooming to make them one of my ultra-special (as in 'geez, that's kind of weird looking') Big Rock Garden bouquets.

It was looking pretty good, if I do say so myself, right up until I hopped in the car and raced down the mountain to meet my blogging friends for breakfast. You see, the top was off the Jeep Wrangler and now I know why it's a bad idea to transport fresh-cut flowers in a convertible.

Rose petals were flying everywhere!

This was such a fun morning because I've been 'virtual friends' with Iron for several years. That's the wonderful thing about blogging ~ you cross paths with so many great people you would never know, were it not for the blogosphere.

Through my blog, she met Wunx, a local friend of mine. Through Iron, we met her sister. And, so the 4 of us met for a yakety yak breakfast, lingering at Ruth's Diner for the better part of the morning.

Murry Market (not heirloom, why bother? :) Tomaters

Afterwards, Wunx introduced me to the famous Mitchell's Market fresh-picked veggie stand.

Then we headed to the Murry Farmer's Market to arm wrestle the natives for sweet corn and other homegrown goodies.

Attn: Salt Lake City Locals!
Find Mitchell's magnificent heirloom tomatoes a half block east of Foothill Blvd. on the corner of 1300 South and Laird Way. On Saturday mornings.

Or! Find them at the People's Market on Sundays: International Peace Garden, 1000 South, 900 West in Salt Lake City.

10 comments:

Iron Needles said...

I had a ball meeting you and Wunx. We will have to do it again when I am in the neighborhood again. We had simply a great time!
And the flowers were gorgeous. Very thoughtful and so appreciated!

Granny J said...

bee-you-tiful tomatoes! I am fortunate in my next door neighbor, who has kept me in yummy cherry tomatoes for several weeks.

Tricia B. said...

Hey neighbor! Just stumbled across your blog today... I live in Park City as well, and am nervously considering trying my hand at beautifying my yard for the first time. Not sure if I have a green thumb; my mom could kill everything but ivy.... Your photographs are lovely and inspiring-- plan to bookmark you and come back for more visual incentive to get out there and just DO something. :)

Anonymous said...

Go people's market!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Tricia!

Always great to meet a new PC gardener, or gardener wannabe?

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the kind compliments.

Just so ya know... I kill lots of stuff. You see, I'm the eternal optimist and I believe everything should grow here! :))

happy gardening!

Tricia said...

Ha! I'm not sure if I even qualify for "gardener wannabe" status. Too ambitious. I think I'm going to check out starting a little herb garden... maybe just some planters to start. I need to do some homework, though-- do you have any basic gardening books or websites that you recommend? Otherwise, I was just going to start at Home Depot and peruse their books.

Sorry for being a pest!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

You're not being a pest. Just promise me you'll plant some Lavender. :))

This site has a nice tutorial. Locally, the PC nursery had a great herb selection this summer. They are very helpful.

Millcreek Gardens, in Salt Lake, is another good resource.

I grow herbs on the windowsill in winter. You probably could, too. The sun is so intense up here that they do quite well. :)

Tricia said...

Fabulous! Thanks for the tips!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

You're welcome! Let me know how it all works out. :)

Nova @ Grow Herb Garden said...

I'm not sure if that souvenir plate is more gorgoeus than Brandywine. Or it is the other way other? =) They look good together. Love them both!