I meant to write a post about composting and even titled it so but all that came out of me was writing about returning home…so here I go. The hubs and I made it home from our summer of travels a few days ago and now have the dirty job of cleaning out the weeds and dead stuff from the garden. It is a mess but there are still some drought and heat resistant plants living and we plan to make the most of them. From what I can tell, we still have okra, Malabar spinach, peanuts, herbs, hot peppers and what looks like melon. Some of our tomatoes and eggplants are still alive and flowering and I am wishing for fall fruits from them. It was such a treat to walk out to the garden to cut herbs for our first meal back. We’d so missed the flavors and aromas of fresh herbs. Yesterday I visited Fightin’ville Fresh Farmers’ market and was thrilled to find so many farmers and growers with pasture raised ducks eggs to sweet potato tortillas, no spray bell peppers, fermented foods, cooking pears, homegrown cucumbers and much, much more! For $35 I returned home with 2.5 dozen eggs and two bags of fresh produce as well as two free books. I was welcomed with hugs from my favorite vendors and it felt so wonderful to be connected to my food again. I did also visit a grocery store for various other things such as butter and cheese but one of my hopes this year is to find a local raw milk supplier to make some of these things at home. I notice that when I visit the grocery store I tend to spend more and purchase more processed foods. With school starting again, I should be focused on getting settled to start the school year but the muscadines are looking so fine and its almost wine making time!!