plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches

Carrots, cauliflower, green bell pepper, sweet onions, Gala apples, red potatoes, salad greens, snow peas, celery, yellow peaches, Abate Fetel pears, purple garlic, and mango. Nearly the end of May and we're coming into true CSA season. Go find one near you.

It's also the season for Farmer's Markets. Seattle has several and on Sunday we went to the Broadway Market. It was a drizzly morning (thankfully, only a rainy punctuation in a long row of sunny days) so we didn't spend too much time there. I was pleased to find that the market was clearly focused on food and not overpriced hippy artistry (all well and good in its own place, but not necessarily something I want to navigate while I'm gazing at local foods.) We bought a jar of spicy pickles from an older couple giving out samples of their jams, jellies, and pickled treats. And we couldn't pass up some beautiful heirloom tomatoes from a farm in Ellensburg.

The signal that summer produce is about to come pouring in. Pictured is a Black Krim, Green Zebra, and...I don't remember which particular yellow tomato this is. We have some starts growing for Brandywine, Costoluto, Persimmon, and Black Krim varietals in the back yard. But that's a drop in the ocean of heirlooms. If you can find heirloom tomatoes, eat them as simply as possible to taste the delicate flavors. We cut them up and tossed them fresh with pasta and tempeh sausage. Eaten on the porch with a glass of wine in the cooling evening and reading a book for dessert is just about the nicest meal I can think of.