Rain isn’t necessarily bad…

2 May 09 by Tim Martin | 1 Comment | 179 view(s)
Printable Version | Categories: family, garden | Tags: , , , , ,

Ah yes, Nashville has been set upon by rain, and not just a little. Yesterday’s makeup soccer game? Canceled. Aspen’s game this morning? Canceled. Oakley’s 4pm game? Yup, canceled.

So, did we just sit around the house? No we did not.

It was the opening weekend for the Franklin Farmers’ Market, and we set out looking for fun. I kid you not, my wife walks around the farmers’ market like an 18 year old boy walks around a Brazilian beach. How she avoids a neck injury I do not know.

Surprisingly, the market was really in pretty good form already. We saw Delvin Farms, which is responsible for our unwillingness to return to Avalon Acres this year. Delvin is organic and their stuff amazes constantly. We’re going to be visiting them most Saturdays. We also saw some cheese, some unpasteurized milk (“labeled for pet and livestock use”, love that), some cool cutting boards, and the usual other stuff. Lots of honey, too, but we’re well stocked in that regard.

Today’s haul included:

  • Two sweet potatoes
  • Some green asparagus
  • Some purple asparagus
  • One block of colby cheese
  • 2 dozen farm fresh eggs
  • A few strawberries

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This is what spring smells like in our house
OK, it’s 16 quarts of strawberries. What?! Are you looking at me? Do I have red juice streaming down my chin? Is Aspen’s shirt stained, again?

After just a bit of a delay at the market, we headed out to the open house at Growild, the supplier of our newly arrived edible landscape. For having a brutally rainy weekend, the folks there put on a great show. The native species they’re able to grow are fantastic, and the spread of homemade baked goods impressed even Jenn. We took a wildflower hike with Chris, who was unbelievably well informed, and enjoyed playing around for a while.


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The girls with their new friend, Rachel
One particularly cool thing was seeing the spot from which our apple trees had been taken, in addition to some older trees. Mike Berkley estimated them to be 15 year old Kinnard’s Choice apples (one of the varieties now in our yard).
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What our apple trees might look like when Lindy graduates
We finished up at Growild after 2pm and thought it might be time for some lunch. Arriving at the Loveless Cafe at nearly 3pm, we discovered a 60 minute wait! Tourists! So, we went toward Nashville and enjoyed the every bit as good Pancake Pantry. Aspen and Oakley both eschewed the children’s menu for something more substantial, and good thing, too. We cleared five plates without a second thought.

So, in total, an excellent Saturday, even though we’re getting dumped on off and on all weekend… Hmmm, the girls have been outside the entire time I’ve been writing. Perhaps I should go see if they’ve drifted off in the creek…

Thank you, kind soul, for your comment.

  1. Angie Six says:
    3 May 09 at 7:15pm

    Tell Cindy Delvin the Six family says hello! We used to get CSA boxes from them when they had a teeny farm just down the road from us on Nolensville Road. I wandered over there one day, she sliced open a watermelon for Elena and I, and I had a produce epiphany. You must stop writing posts that are making me green with envy. First the strawberries, and now Pancake Pantry?

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