My plans for weeding and preparing my garden boxes were thwarted by the gross cold and wet weather, so the next best thing would be for me to obtain seeds and plants for the upcoming season. A few days ago, I learned that I would have a space again this year in the West End Community Garden; I had been told otherwise about a month earlier. This news prompted me to draw up extensive plans for the garden. One of my favorite vegetables happens to be peppers, which is too frustrating for me to grow from seed, so I decided that I would scout for plants, as I had used last year. In 2008, I got my plants from the Knox Parks plant sale, which has not yet been announced. No problem, I thought, as I dragged myself to the car, I would just go to Moscarillo’s Garden Shoppe in West Hartford. I would have preferred to support more local business, but I supposed this would be the next best thing.

No peppers.

Shovels, cacti, lawn tchotchkes, roses, hydrangeas, herbs, but no peppers.

I couldn’t remember offhand how to get to the seed place in Wethersfield, and was not feeling in the mood to drive out to Vernon (a whopping 20 minutes away) where I knew for certain I could find the plants. This is when I remembered passing a few garden shops out in the Canton area. I figured while around there, I’d drop off to Collinsville to take photos. Maybe I’d grab lunch in the village. It’d be somewhat productive.

At this point, I swear my cinnamon sugar bagel with strawberry cream cheese breakfast caused a chemical reaction to occur, and I was on my way past Canton after coming up virtually empty (I did get seeds for various other edibles and flowers) at all the other places en route.

Here is a look at my thought process (note the sweet mixture of delirium and denial):
“Well, certainly the area past Canton must have something. It’s rural. They’ll have greenhouses”
“Maybe not New Hartford. Okay, I have not been past New Hartford in years. Maybe something new opened.”
“Why wouldn’t any of these places have peppers? It’s not a rare vegetable.”
winsted
Before I knew it, I was at an intersection in Winsted.

This sent me down memory lane. Years ago, I had interviewed at the community college out there. Working there would basically have required me to move out there, as it would have been about an hour and a half drive from where I was living at the time. I opted out, and as I drove through Winsted, realized that I have made a few good choices in life. That’s not a slam of Winsted. It’s more that I am not a small town woman, and even when I lived in a small town, I wasn’t. I feel better visiting these types of towns, knowing that I have the option of leaving before social claustrophobia sets in. As lovely and (cough) quaint as these types of places are, I like to have more anonymity than is afforded in a town with two or three stoplights and one coffeehouse.

Originally, I thought I’d pull a u-turn right outside of Winsted and head home, a little defeated. And then I realized I had not–at least not in memory–gone past Winsted. So, I kept going. At a certain point, I saw that I was close to New York. Might as well keep going.
across from the market in ny

also across from market
And that’s how I wound up at the McEnroe Organic Farm Market in Dutchess County, New York. I would like for them to take over the Dollar Store building on Farmington Avenue. I only bought a soda, but looked around anyway. Their baked goods actually had ingredients listed. If I had not already eaten more sugary things than I should have that morning (including the apparently psychedelic bagel), I would have gotten a vanilla cupcake which I was assured of (by the ingredient sign) having no pecans. This is what Whole Foods could be. It’s much smaller. There’s not much selection; what they had stocked looked very fresh and of high quality. The prices did not seem jacked up. The cashiers were friendly, but not in a scary hippie way. Their greenhouse in Millerton only had a few potted herbs, but an entirely organic farm market made up for the lack of pepper plants.

On the way home, I took note of the silos, farm equipment, cows, chickens, and actual farms alongside the road. This would have been more fun had it been warm and dry instead of nearly freezing and raining. And if I was not on a mission to find what probably will not exist for another few weeks.