Art Night, Harvest Night

Quick post tonight so I can get on to drawing and painting for my soon-to-exist Etsy shop. Wanted to share today's "harvest": two eggplants and a handful of grape tomatoes. It makes me happy to say that even though it's the last day of August there seems to be no stopping our summer vegetable garden. In addition to the peppers and egglants there are also four large green heirloom tomatoes alongside a few hopeful, tiny budding tomatoes.

It's almost 8 - time to get to painting.

Tuesday night grocery shopping - YDFM

The majority of our food shopping is done at YDFM (Your DeKalb Farmer's Market). The expansiveness and variety of YDFM borders on indescribable. But amazingness aside, I do have two minor complaints: 1.They rarely stock leafy greens grown closer to home then California. 2.The chickens could be more genuinely free range. Fortunately those are both problems I can solve on my own. The first by growing my own greens (which we do) and the second by finding a local free range chicken vendor (something on our to-do list).

I'll expand more on YDFM's greatness in the future. For this evening, I'd like to leave you with -

THE RULES OF YDFM
The first rule of YDFM is - don't talk about YDFM!

No, no, no. That's not right. The first rule of YDFM is:

1. NO PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

2. The second rule of YDFM is, BRING A SWEATER!!! Even in the summer I need a hoodie. In the winter I need a winter's coat, hat and gloves. It's freezing in there.

3. The final rule of YDFM is, BE VERY WARY OF WHEN YOU GO. Tonight, a Tuesday after 7:30pm, it was great. A Saturday afternoon or Sunday after church - forget it. It's bananas. If you go when it's at maximum capacity your best bet is to bring a buddy, leave the cart in a stationary location, and tag team the shopping list.

Monday night BLT

The much anticipated BLT! Actually, Oliver made one a BLT and the other a "PPLT" (pulled pork, lettuce and tomato). Made from some of the pulled pork we'd frozen and saved from our wedding reception's pig roast in May.

In the background you can see a pint of Oliver's Rye Saison homebrew (in a Redbrick Brewery glass) and, of course, Mr. Topher begging at the screen door.

Oh that Topher! (Seen here on Sunday running off to enjoy a grape tomato from our garden. He prefers to eat them on the carpet in the living room).

To Market, To Market

For us Sunday morning means a walk to our neighborhood Farmer's Market. I've been so impressed with how very-local many of the farms are. (There is one down Moreland, south of the drive-in, and another near West End.) Today my favorite vendor, Mountain Earth Farms, had unbelievable heirloom tomatoes. Huge and beautifully grotesque! We bought a giant tomato and two small ciabatta rolls and plan to make BLTs for dinner tomorrow. Until then, it's canning time! Oliver is currently in the kitchen canning some hot pickled okra. Bloody Mary anyone?!

New blog, new shop & new adventures!

Welcome to our venture at using a blog to share our enthusiasm about eating local foods, growing our own fruits and veggies, cooking, canning, brewing and being heart healthy. We're a little family in a little house with a little garden in a historic section of Atlanta. Our family is: Cullen (me), Oliver (my husband) and Topher (our not so little Maine Coon Cat). I include Topher in our passion for eating real foods because our cat is nuts about produce. Leave a bowl of tomatoes on the counter (or a sliced watermelon or pile of spinach) and you will return to find him happily snacking away. 

Our garden isn't always the prettiest but it does produce a satisfying amount of great food. Currently growing: an unwieldy six foot tall heirloom tomato plant, an eggplant (plant), an overgrown grape tomato plant, an Italian cherry pepper plant, and a green pepper plant. Last week I ripped out the cucumbers and there is still a straggly kale plant or two hanging on from our spring planting.

Looking east into our garden:

Looking west into our garden:

Our plants as of late August:

With time I'll update the design and background. But for now I didn't think they were the most important thing. Thanks for visiting and wish us luck!