Did you know that according to the produce manager at PCC, avocados are always in season? Here I was, week after week, passing up buying those organic ones at $2.50/each, somehow thinking that the price would go down when they got back into season again. Finally, toward the end of August, I thought I’d ask “what’s the deal with those expensive avos?” Well, today I learned that the price ain’t going down, people. Apparently the California ones are being grown year-round in a small zone in mid-CA, so the price might fluctuate maybe 50 cents either way. Whereas, nectarines, with such a short growing season (also in CA) will get cheap for a few weeks because there are so many to sell at once.
I’m all indignant that unless I move to more tropical climes, I’ll never be able to justify one-a-day. But take a look at this site, the most comprehensive guide to avocado varieties you’ll ever see. Perhaps one day I’ll start a fruit tourism company, which travels the world in search of rare cultivars.
On my first day of jury duty, I wish I could say I was called immediately to a case of the utmost importance, but it seems today the justice system is moving at half of the speed of honey, without the compelling flavor. At least they have wifi, and I can go about my digital day with minimal interruptions.
Currently I face a phalanx of 7 vending machines. On first glance, I am heartened to learn that King County is taking Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle’s advice personally, with its new health campaign stickers. The sentiment is right on: “Eat Smart, Move More”, featuring a bright red apple. Never mind that they missed the “mostly plants” part. And that from a distance, “move more” looks suspiciously like “MORE MORE.” Plus, the graphic designer botched the composition by sticking “King County” right in between those lines, further muddling the meaning of the phrase. I know these pressures all too well, and bang my head in sympathy. But really, my only big issue is that the stickers are placed over a vending machine whose contents can best be described as JUNK. No fresh fruit to be seen. Perhaps the stickers are supposed to act as a warning to NOT use this vending machine for anything other than dire emergencies?
Fresh fruit, people, where’s the fresh fruit???
Got to spend some time investigating Seattle’s lowest tide of the year last week. Apocalypse Beach was especially fascinating–check out the photos. This year’s mystery is how the 10′ diameter monolith got to be sitting right on the beach. There were no obvious holes in the cliff side, so did it fall out of the sky?
Lowman Beach in West Seattle was also teeming with sea anemones, sea stars, and elementary school kids.
Apparently, the tomato plants I diligently raised from seed are not amused with recent weather conditions. If only we could string together a couple of sunny days in a row, I think my babies would respond quite readily.
Still, my tomatoes are far better off than the ones involved in the recent salmonella tomato outbreak. In a recent CNN article, I noticed that while there’s plenty of details on exactly which fast food restaurants have heroically pulled all tomatoes from their burgers, why is it that in a 300-word article, I can find no mention of HOW so many tomatoes come into contact with this mega dose of animal feces? Furthermore, why is the mention of organic tomatoes strangely absent? Could it be that if we knew that organic tomatoes were safer, we would actually stop buying the conventional ones?
We finally edited down the several thousand photos from our trip, no small feat. You can see them here. We even created an album of our Top 40 photos in case you don’t have a spare hour!
