So after our yummy coffee and croissant at Four Flour we were ready to start shopping at the Ballard Farmer’s Market! Color was everywhere from the incredible bunches of carrots in all hues of orange, gold and burgundy – I loved how these beets looked against the yellow lilies!

Of course not only were the fruits and vegetables incredible to look at but so were the people! Lots of cool vintage/Thrift Shop looks that I hadn’t seen for a while including this little girl who’s mom is out to make her a poster child for Urban Outfitter! Her outfit was adorable but this parrot didn’t seem to care what she had on, I suspect it just wanted to show off it brilliant green feathers against her flaming red hair!

There were a couple of toe tapping musical acts and this band was the first – love the name! They were great and really set the ambience for this laid back, old fashioned kind of market!

What I love about this market is that you get the combination of the market itself as well as all the cool shops and restaurants that Ballard has to offer. I spotted this guy whose name is Brooks, hanging outside Cafe Bastille, an amazing French restaurant I will tell you all about soon I promise!. All he needed was to be smoking a Gauloises and he would have been straight out of the Left Bank (of course I’m actually glad he wasn’t smoking…!) Bonjour Brooks!

On that note I’ll say au revoir, I’ve got some my farmer’s market goodies – little potatoes, tomatoes, blueberries, romaine to turn into something delicious!

the band

Blueberries, Strawberries, French Radishes,, Striped Potatoes and Curly Endive all at the Pasadena Farmers Market on Sierra Madre! Beautiful!

Just stick your nose in a smell – real tomatoes! What a wonderful smell (and taste) summertime is definitely here!

All you have to do is close your eyes and take a deep breath – you can smell that it’s Lilac season at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market and they are everywhere! I love seeing all the people carrying big stalks of varying shades of lavender, purple and white. You just know they are going to take them home and beautify some corner of their house! What a breath of springtime!

The picture at the very top of this post is from the Kilcoyne Lilac farm located just one hour north of Los Angeles in Acton.

Imagine what it smells like there? Sounds like a Sunday afternoon to me, VERY COZY!!!!

Thanks Lisa for sending this great pic of the pumpkins at Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark, California! Talk about selection! No matter where you get your pumpkins from, the Farmer’s Market, grocery store or lucky enough to go to a real pumpkin patch, the point is to get them and then turn them into fabulous jack o’ lanterns!

Nothing like the eerie glow of a beautifully carved pumpkin on a chilly Autumn evening! Now that’s cozy!!!

“A collective in which we all get to enjoy some of what everyone grows in exchange for contributing what we don’t want or won’t use ourselves. Then no food is wasted and we all get a variety of fresh local produce to eat for free.”

No waste, a no brainer, right? How many times have you driven by a neighborhood avocado tree and wished you could get out and take a couple of the hundreds of fruits that you know will never get eaten? Well now people with these extras can contribute to Hynden’s project and receive a bag of goodies delivered right to their door!. Sharing made simple!
By the way, it’s all for free if you contribute or volunteer to bag or deliver. Check out all the details on the website for more info.

Our fearless leader Hynden. Amazing energy!

So organized! The list above all volunteer’s bags on what goodies they will be receiving.

APPLES!

BASIL AND TONS OF OTHER HERBS TOO (SAGE, THYME, PARSLEY ETC.)

PERSIMMONS AND LEMONS

TOMATOES AND POMEGRANATES

New member Ellen baked at over 30 loaves of absolutely delicious Pumpkin bread! wow, what a treat!

GROUP SHOT! Hard workers included: Julie, Marge, Mariah, Monica (head of the San Gabriel Valley chapter) and Hynden:

MASCOT BOO: A fabulous Greyhound racer (who incidentally ate all Hynden’s pumpkin bread which is why he looks so content!)

Thanks again Hynden and everybody! I look forward to doing it again!

Hynden says: no plastic bags, eat off the tree!!!!!!!!!

And of course, since it is my most favorite season I have to do everything possible to get into the mood! Which means taking advantage of the beautiful produce Fall has to offer and using it instead of flowers are decor. On my dining room table I have a vintage bowl full of persimmons and they are gorgeous!

I also love big bowls of artichokes or baby eggplants, peppers, chestnuts, the possibilities are endless! And you can always eat them in the end!

Today I bought pumpkins and will continue to add as it gets closer to Halloween. You can never get enough!

Coming up: some new Fall inspired recipes!

Michelle Obama has a new dress and I have a new blog! What’s the correlation?
Well in order to drive people to my work website I’ve created a blog called Musings: On the business of fashion, photography, models and more.

And my most recent post is all about Mrs. Obama’s Merona dress. And Katy Holmes becomes a designer and Miley’s line for Walmart.
Check it out!

THERE’S NO SIBLING RIVALRY HERE! THE UPPER TOMATOES ARE BEING IN GROWN BY MY BROTHER JOHN IN ASHEVILLE, NC AND THESE LOWER SLICED BEAUTIES ARE COURTESY OF SISTER LISA IN THOUSAND OAKS, CA!

HOW GORGEOUS ARE THESE? AND I BET THEY TASTED JUST AS DELICIOUS. WE ALL KNOW SOME SALT, PEPPER AND A LITTLE EXTRA VIRGIN AND VOILA, THE TASTE OF SUMMER!

ANYONE ELSE GROWING? SEND ME YOUR PICS, WE ALL WANT TO SEE! AND JOHN AND SOON AS YOU SLICE YOURS UP, SEND US A PHOTO!

One of the things I wanted to do when I was in Asheville was to visit and Apple Orchard. Well we kinda hit the jackpot with the Hickory Nut Gap Farm which is a combo apple orchard, corn field and pumpkin patch!

Funny enough, we never did make it to the actual orchard but I have to admit everything else was so cool that I was totally satisfied. I’ll post pics of the apples later as they were amazing!!!
But for now, it’s all about pumpkins!!!

Yes, Children of the Corn!!! and funny enough, the guy riding the tractor looked just like something out of Texas Chain Saw Massacre!!! Yiiikkkkkeeees!

Smashing Pumpkins! actually my brother John is quite a good catch I just like that band!

People really do pumpkins well in North Carolina! must be all the inspiring nature!