cabbages and roses - a Saturday pictorial

I’d set the alarm to wake up earlier than my weekend body clock would like. Quickly out of bed and showered, it wasn’t til I was about to head out the door that I noticed it was raining. I cursed a little and wondered what to do with myself. Half an hour later, it was not exactly sunny but dry enough to reconsider heading off to the Collingwood children’s’ farm for it’s monthly farmers market.



I was rewarded with a free park on the street and market stalls still brimming with goodies. Although I aim to go to the market once every season, in reality it is more like an annual event. Dotted around the muddy pitch were mounds of seasonal vegetables, the largest daikon that I have ever seen and flowers optimistically hinting of spring. There were breads, nuts, eggs, spices, meaty things and coffee galore. One stall even had an enticing basket of nettles.



I only had two things on my list – rhubarb and eggs. My sole dilemma was deciding which vendor to buy them from. I also found home grown lemonades whose sweetness I adore, some late season grapes from Redcliffs and I couldn't go past the optimism of a few bunches of daffs.



Back home I’ve stewed Di’s rhubarb. She’d said the flavour was a little different and intense. The aroma I got while cooking was the earthy scent of beetroot. The eggs became the backdrop for my Weekend Herb Blogging experiment (which I will write up tomorrow – promise), the grapes are being well picked, the flowers brightening the room and there are the lemonades to look forward to – maybe fortified with a nip of something and a dash of soda water.



Even in this most barren of seasons it is great to see what fresh goodies nature has on offer. Next time I won’t be put off by a few drops of rain but I won’t think twice about wearing my gumboots!