early

this morning I got up early to head to the farmers market and take a little photography field trip.  A friend sent me a link to a story about tableware taken directly from the earth.  I did that once and enjoyed it, but haven't tried working with it again.  On the way back from the market I heard an interview with Edward Tufte and his Buddha with Bird Nest sculpture.  Sculpture might be the way to take this local clay- its high iron content contaminates my white porcelaineous stoneware too much for tableware.  A seed (or nest) of Buddha with a nest has been planted in my brain.

Canning season starts for me this week.  I bought all the beets one farmer had- spiced pickled beets (and chiffonade of beet greens for the freezer- I love beet greens, especially sauteed with onion, garlic, and potatoes and served with hash or a bit of sausage-makes it palatable for the boys- over pasta) coming up- and was given a box of slightly smooshed peaches by the manager of an orchard who gave me tons of culled fruit for canning and drying last year.  So sweet of him to remember!  I'm thinking about gingered peach jam for this first box, and I'll get out the dehydrator for the less-smooshed pieces.

The kitchen garden I occasionally sneak into (it isn't open to the public, but I've been given permission to visit, even though it stays locked) was lovely.  Photos over at flickr.