Connect Simply

Summer is here in northeast Texas, even if it is a little cooler than the norm. Don’t miss those 100 degree days. Rain! Rain! Rain! It doesn’t go away and it is still here for another day.

I haven’t watered my garden most of the summer and it looks like a jungle. Peppermint went knee high, cantalopes and squash won the war against the weeds all by themselves and are now spreading onto the lawn. Someone buried the peppers. Cantalopes said the squash did it, squash pleads innocence. Maybe the cucumbers did it, some of those are ready to eat. The birds are still eying the grapes. Sadly the tomatoes didn’t choke out all their weeds, lots of large green tomatoes anyway.

Now my cherry tomatoes are great in salads, but I wanted a large fresh one for slicing, I’d have to wait a week or go shopping. My kids used up my patience years ago. Walmart just isn’t a good place for produce, I’m always disappointed with what I buy there. So after we picked my son up from morning swim practice we headed to the farmer’s market in the next state over.

Texarkana is a border city, one town in Texas, the other in Arkansas, so we get the choose the best from both states. We have 2 farmer’s markets off Jefferson Street on the Arkansas side. I know one is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings, the other is open at least the same time.

First booth we came to, I was surprised to find my children’s school teacher, she had taught one of my kids every 3 years, 6 of the 7 before she retired. Now she is sporting a master gardener t-shirt and selling her surplus. It was fun to catch up with her. I’d forgotten her husband was an engineer.

We walk around a little a find a nice gentleman who has a bargain going on, flats of flowers, $3.50 each. Perfect, I was thinking flowers would spruce up my friend’s house that is going up for rent. I get some great recommendations, amazing how much you can spruce up a place for less than $10, and a little TLC. As I tell about the house project, the guy tells me he is looking for some young men to help with the farm, and would my son be interested. Sadly he is only 16, just looks older than that, and the guy has to hire only age 18 and up. Then he tells my son how he can make a killing on yard jobs this summer. I grab a big red tomato, and look for baby potatoes, my son wants the red ones, so I let him pick them out while I pack up the flowers.

“But where is the fruit? the watermelons, peaches, blueberries?”

That’s my youngest, she’d live off fresh fruit if I let her. Good thing she likes vegtables too. And grits, cornbread, and chocolate. But her mouth was watering for fresh blueberries (first choice) or watermelon. None to be found.

So we stop at the second Farmer’s market. As soon as we get out of the car, a little girl comes out and hands her a blueberry sample. Yeah! the Easter freeze did not get them all. Another farmer sold cut flowers, buy the individual ones or a whole bouquet. My daughter fell in love with the Tiger Lilly bouquet, named after her cat, and I couldn’t resist, so beautiful and only $7.

And those cucumbers, compliments of my backyard jungle.