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| Fresh goodness. Photo by me, June 2014. |
On the first of the month I paid another visit to the State Farmer's Market down in Forest Park. My mission was to browse the produce and maybe find some bedding plants. It's a big outdoor open-air market housed under these massive concrete stalls near the airport. It isn't a pretty place at first glance, but the colors from the vegetables and flowers give it plenty of life. The market emphasizes form over function so it isn't a glamorous place like what you might expect in an indoor market and I like it that way - I like to see the beauty in the ugly.
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| Photo by me, June 2014. |
One vendor was selling pinatas. I was so happy to see these hanging from the roof. One of my aunts on my mother's side of the family would buy these for birthday parties when I was a child. She would hang them from the ceiling of her carport and my two cousins, brother and I would take our blind folded turns and swing at it with a baseball bat. Many good laughs erupted at how we would swing at the air completely missing the target. It often took several good whacks to bust one open. It might be fun to have a party even in my adulthood with one... I will file that idea away for potential later use.
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| Photo by me, June 2014. |
No pinatas, but I did end up getting some pretty mangoes for smoothie making and some fresh vegetables.
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| Photo by me, June 2014. |
Then I walked over to where they sell flowers and bedding plants. It was a colorful scene and the photo above only shows a portion of what all they offered. I spent more time looking at flowers that afternoon than I did at anything else. The selection was good quality and the prices were reasonable so I ended up buying some bright stars, marigolds (I love these basic flowers and plant them every year) and zinnias.
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| A photo of a zinnia planted by my mother from my childhood in the 1980s. I must have been trying some "arty" focusing. Photo by me, 1980s. |
I haven't planted zinnias since I was a child with my mother. I have some photos tucked away of growing them one year with a grasshopper perched atop one of the blooms. Growing flowers and tending them are some of the best memories I had with my mother and flowers were something that brought us both much happiness. I can't plant flowers or tend to my plants without thinking of her.
It seems the visit that day to the farmer's market brought out childhood memories in me and I acted on one of them in getting the zinnias. So far they are growing well and I will have to post some photos of them as the summer goes on.
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