My Surrogate Garden: the Farmers Market

So here's the deal. I don't have a garden. I drool a bit over all the garden photos on The Green Phone Booth and elsewhere. I even have a Pinterest Garden board. I do aspire to having a garden, but I just don't have the mental space, time, or energy to embark on this new endeavor just yet. (If you'd like to come plant stuff in my yard for me and tell me exactly what to do afterwards, just let me know!)

But you know what I've got? I've got the farmers market. And oh, how I love the farmers market. I shop at one, sometimes two farmers markets every Saturday and purchase at least 90% of my family's produce there (bananas being the major exception). I kind of like to think of the farmers market as my garden. My surrogate garden, if you will. So for the last few weeks, I've been annoying my children by whipping out my smart phone to take photos at the farmers market.

Are you ready? Here are some photos of my pride and joy: my local farmers markets.

Click here to continue reading at The Green Phone Booth.

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Hate Stirring Natural Nut Butters? Read This.

Does this happen to you?

As I get to the bottom of a jar of peanut butter, or almond butter, or tahini, I feel a vague sense of dread. It's the knowledge that soon, very soon, I will have to open a new jar of nut butter, and that entails trying my very best to integrate that layer of oil sitting on the top into the entire jar. Whether you use a fork, knife, or some other utensil, this process inevitably involves making a greasy mess on your hands, the outside of the jar, and on the surface beneath the jar.

At least that used to happen to me, until I discovered one of the finest inventions ever: the Witmer Mess-free Peanut Butter Mixer.

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