<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://images.instagram.com/media/2011/07/18/b8a2bdc5773d444ea6ad44361053a323_7.jpg" alt="mixed colour carrots" width="450" height="450" /></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">image by craven maven using <a href="http://instagr.am/p/H9CBE/">instagram</a></span></p>

One nice thing about being back home from a trip is settling back into routines that one finds dear. I truly believe that everyone should spend their Sunday mornings at the Farmer's Market. There is something incredibly cathartic about getting your hands on fruits, veggies and herbs that have not too long been pulled out of the ground or plucked from the boughs of trees within a close radius of where you lay your head. 

Having a completely empty fridge I soon found that my arms were teeming with leafy greens, golden beets, the friendliest looking Yukon Gold potatoes I've ever seen and heirloom toms. The aroma that emanates from the market stands is phenomenal - and a sad reminder of how lacklustre, odourless and insipid many of the high street supermarket offerings actually are. Blech. A day later and my kitchen still has a warm sweet basil scent floating around it. 

My problem however, is always buying way more than I should - though I throw very little out. Whatever doesn't get used in the first few days goes into soup at the end of the week. It is always hard to not get caught up in buying an abundance - I see purple carrots, white carrots, candy striped beets and I just bounce around with ideas of how I could use them in 'usual' dishes for an interesting pop of colour.

I also love how Farmer's Market's in NY at least, level the economic playing field. Many of them accept WIC, senior citizen vouchers and an array of benefits for low income households. Fresh veggies are a basic necessity and human right as far as I'm concerned so this provision  really warms my heart. So <a href="http://www.simplesteps.org/eat-local">find a farmers market near you</a> today. Pick up some goods, get some advice from the growers themselves and scrub them clean in the afternoon for a lovely fresh, rich in flavour lunch and dinner. It's the reason I love Sundays and just might become the reason you love it too. 