The trip to bountiful

Presenting Grand Army Plaza on a Saturday morning: Too much summer sky, too much amazing architecture, too many people loading up on produce. Bring it on.










And don't miss the details, like a dragonfly on the cushion mums, or what okra looks like inside.
 (My only first-hand experience of okra is as the source of those tiny white ball bearings in Campbell's minestrone soup; some love the pods, but Spouse has a horror of them after encountering them in numerous preparations during a long-ago sojourn in Oklahoma.)


I struggled to contain my irrational exuberance today, since I have been burning through cash here at an alarming rate this summer; the farmers' gas bills have gone up, too, and everything seems excruciatingly expensive. Last week, I became deranged and bought a big sack of these plums at $4.50 a pound.  They made a magnificent tart (voila, at right), but the guilt lingered...today, I passed up melons and decided to buy just a few heirloom tomatoes ($3.50 a pound, and many Brandywines weigh a pound!) to be slain and savored raw.

 

Even at $3.75/lb., I can take all the pictures I want. Here, an Heirloom Tomato Photo Quilt, all from Evolutionary Organics' booth.
Top row, left to right:  "Old German,"  "German Pink,"  and "Moonglow."
Bottom row:  "Tlacolula Red" (from Oaxaca), "Red Zebra," and "Boxcar Willie."

I'd eat them for their names alone. (Although I haven't spotted either of my two favorites: "German Johnson" and "Mortgage Lifter.") [Thanks to Child for technical support in making photomontage.]

GREENMARKET DOG OF THE WEEK 

This is Daisy Mae, a Lab-Collie combo. Petite but fully grown at 7 months, she has a marvelously silky coat that stands up in springy curls along her flanks and back. She also loves to work it for the camera; no shy turning away or over-eager SnoutCam hijinks from this sweet girl. Just a whole lotta happy tongue.

Comments

[M. Thew]

Keep a lookout for those black russian or black prince tomatoes. They are medium sized, purplish, and incredible eating.

[Brenda from Flatbush]

Oh, the black Russians! Nothing else like them. Here's a twist: Yesterday, I saw black Russian-y cherry tomatoes. Sampled one (by invitation)...same incredible distinctive flavor, in a poppable form.