I *heart* the Farmers Markets

Mmmm ... summer. We seemed to bypass Spring in Vancouver, but Summer is here on the calendar at least!

Today was my first trip to the local Farmers Markets for the year - just on the corner of Comox and Thurlow in the West End. Last week Sean and I went to the Trout Lake markets - still the biggest that I know of, but reasonably busy, and very long queues to anybody selling berries! This time, I went early, and local. I love living downtown, I really do.

I managed to pick up:
2 lbs of organic cherries for $14
1 lb of sugar snap peas for $5
2 zucchini for $1.50
2 lbs of red and yellow peppers for $6
A small tray of Shitake mushrooms for $3
1 lb of organic cherry tomatoes for $4.90
An organic eggplant at $2.50 / lb
An organic bok choy for $2.23
A pound of organic baby spinach for $2.50
And a large container of kalamata olives for $6
Organic strawberries and organic raspberries, for $4 each box

I actually paid attention to the prices this time, as in the past I just spend whatever then come home and adjust my budget accordingly. Now, I am trying to be a bit more ... proactive ...

I had fun too using my change to make most of the purchases - loonies, toonies and quarters, and some small notes - it let me get rid of a lot of our change, and helped the sellers too.

Mental note: remember next time to take my own produce bags, as well as my big shopping bag to carry everything in.

Now - to deseed and freeze a lot of the cherries, for the fun of winter smoothies. Tonight, I think the shitakes and bok choy are going into the quinoa miso stew. I have already troughed a lot of the sugar snap peas - they are just SO GOOD.

The Clothing Chronicles

So one of my main missions is to put together the optimal wardrobe. Yeah.

Sox and I have spent a fair amount of our adult lives being transient, which involves living somewhere for a while, then purging all unnecessary belongings before heading somewhere else. I have significantly streamlined the clothes that I own because of this. I got to the stage where if it didn't fit into my backpack, I was obviously never going to wear it again.

Thrift Stores have done very well out of me: both for donations and purchases.

Anyway, as I have streamlined this process over the years, I have worked out that separates are my friends. I owned minimal shoes. One pair of Doc Marten boots (black, eight hole) would last me daily wear for three years or more. I am now on my third or fourth pair, I think. I like them - A LOT. Really.

However, as an early-thirty-esque who now works reliably in an office, I have found that my wardrobe needs are changing. I work corporate. I go to the gym (well, I'm planning to). I hang out with buddies. I have two weddings to attend this year. But I still want to be able to shove things into my backpack and pull out a perfect variety of clothes at the other end. Old habits die hard.

But how can one fit these needs into my current philosophy of wanting to Do Things As Well As I Can ?

In no particular order, here is my agenda with clothing items. They must be:

Organic
Recycled
Low carbon foot print / made in Canada / supporting local community / fair trade
Economical
Sustainable practices
Durable / long lasting
Natural fabrics
Original
Versatile

I am trying to put these into a proper hierarchy, but essentially if it isn't organic, it must be recycled. Everything should have as low a carbon footprint as possible, which means that I want it to have tranevlled the least distance to reach me. I need to be able to afford it. I need it to be versatile and durable, as I am going to hammer it pretty hard and use it A LOT. Really.

I am planning to outline this in more detail later on, just wanted you to have the basics now.

Yes.