Another garden stalker! Back in Denver, I carried my camera bag everywhere so I wouldn't miss an opportunity to take photos. I loved seeing people in their yards to talk about their gardening and take pictures for my own use if they let me.
People around here aren't as friendly. I still try to talk to people if I see them in their gardens, but I am not comfortable carrying my camera around these days. Takes too much strength to carry a few different lenses and I don't have as much fun when I miss shots with the wrong lens. I tend to like my various fixed mm lenses, like my 50mm, 28mm, 100mm, more than lenses that zoom. I use my feet to zoom. But the camera bag weighs too much and if someone tried to swipe my camera, I can no longer outrun them, or beat them up. Although my big dog Reba kept people from bothering me - she looked vicious and was very protective.
I went to the neighborhood farmer's market yesterday. I doubt the sellers were local. Probably from all over the city and the outskirts, and two french bakeries selling a ton of bread. I have a weakness for bread. The almond croissants I almost wanted to return for more. This was the first time I didn't see any tomatoes. Last year, I only went a couple times and there were tomatoes everywhere. Very little of anything else. But none of the sellers could tell me anything about their tomatoes, so I didn't buy. I saw very tiny garlic. I didn't even know garlic bulbs could be harvested so small. A lot of onions I will keep in mind because I didn't plant many this year. I was quite envious of the bunches of carrots, but I have some growing and not into them enough to buy some with so many in my own garden.
I could not resist buying some large peppers for making more chile rellenos. But also, because I was not able to find Poblano pepper plants, I will get the seeds from these peppers for next spring. Before I roast them. The market had the strangest hours - from 1530 to 1830. Never had those odd times in Denver. A farmer's market starts in the morning. Some small events would start late morning. But never heard of starting so late in the day.
No squash this year at the market. Maybe in the next few weeks I'll see more varieties of stuff. I don't think there are many gardeners in my neighborhood. A ton of zeroscaping, some xeriscaping. I pass a lot of balconies with not a single plant. I go for walks in the evenings all the time and never get wet by sprinklers because no one is growing anything that needs watering and care. A few rare and very green lawns amazes me. Especially those with no other plants, flowers, or vegetation. Just immaculate green grass. I guess I am still in shock from not seeing enough gardening being done since I moved here. My neighbor has a garden I have never seen because it is hidden from sidewalk/street view. I am very curious how it looks so I plan to ask for an invite. Mine is visible from his front yard, where we talk a lot. When the other neighbor moved out, the owner decided to get rid of the garden. I've watched all week as all the flowers, plants and sunflowers have disappeared and been replaced with landscape fabric and mulch. At least he is using wood mulch instead of rocks. Wish I didn't have rocks, they hurt the feet. But it would also be nice to peer at the other gardeners growing things from my own yard and when I walk by. It is a world of pavement, rocks and cacti.
