The price of perfect zucchini is eternal vigilance. This is what happens when you get busy and don’t get into your garden for a couple of days — unnaturally huge zucchini, shown at top of picture consorting with ordinary zukes for scale.

I see zucchini bread in my future, although I quite understand the point of view of those who say that zucchini bread is a waste of good raisins. The only other option is stuffed zucchini, and I can just see my boys if I tried to feed them that.

 

Here is my garden. While it is pretty, it has only zucchini and herbs ready for the table. Lots of green tomatoes and baby peppers, but mostly it’s herbs and squash.

 

 

So #2 son and I hied ourselves to the farmers’ market, where they had all this simply gorgeous produce.

I was smitten with the turnips and the lovely crinkly Savoy cabbages.

#2 son? Not so much. In fact, he expressed his loathing of the vegetables on offer and went straight for the blueberries.

Nothing wrong with blueberries. There used to be a lot of berry farms around.You could — and we always did — drive up and buy four gallons for about $25 and put them in your freezer and have blueberry pancakes all winter, plus pies and jam and plenty of fruit salad.

 

Now most of the farms have been sold for subdivisions. The Piano Teacher said that when the price of blueberries (already up to $22 a gallon) goes high enough, people will sell their houses for blueberry farms.

The garden on the square is looking lovely as always. It is a great pleasure just to stroll around the square and admire the garden. Even in winter, so you know it is a feast for the eyes in summer.

I like these purple leaves, though I do not know what they are.

Since it is not a botanical garden, but merely a town square in a town that rather prides itself on being pretty, there are no labels telling passersby what the plants are called. I would like to have some labels, or possibly a picturesque gardener in corduroys and a disreputable hat, whom I could ask.

 

#2 son also likes the bakeries.

The rain kept the French bakery from coming out, but the local coffee house had plenty of customers. They are getting their bottoms wet in those chairs, I am sure, but I like their devil-may-care spirit.

We got bread and croissants to go with the blueberries. #2 son was the chooser of breads, so there was white flour involved.

 

And just beyond the bakeries, you can find Cheap Thrills, one of my kids’ favorite stores.

They have lots of vintage clothing and odd stuff. Costumes, and vinyl records, and old lunchboxes. It is a fun place.

 

 

#1 son got a T-shirt that says he hearts Uncle Bills, which I am hoping is not something rude that I don’t understand. I had him google it, and he said it seemed to be a pancake house. If you know otherwise, let me know.

Cheap Thrills is a great place to get yourself some cheap frills.

And go-go boots to go with them, if you want.

Me, I have a sore throat and achiness and generally feel as though I am coming down with something. I do not have time to come down with anything just at the moment, so I am going to take my cup of tea and my book and go back to bed till time to get ready for work. Better to skip the gym and the housework than to spread the plague among innocent shoppers for planbooks. Those of you who think that germs have invaded my body and will not be put off by a couple of hours in bed should keep it to yourselves, because this process requires strong suspension of disbelief.