Fear and Loathing at Whole Foods

I don't shop in midtown Atlanta on principle. But I make three practical exceptions to this rule. Trader Joe's I will shop once every few months or as occasion demands. I visit Green's liquor whenever I need good bitters, a specific kind of liquor that I can't get at the Main Street Package, or I just happen to be in the area. And Whole Foods. It is invariably a special occasion that takes me to Whole Foods, or the need for a special product.

Such it was today. I was after tonic. Q Tonic, to be specific, and Whole Foods Midtown is one of the few places that carries it. Because I needed a few groceries, I chose Whole Foods over Tower Liquors on Memorial, which also carries Q.

Why do I want Q? Ever since the cocktail revolution ruined simple mixed drinks for me (I haven't had a bourbon and coke in over a year), I've been craving a decent gin and tonic, but cannot stomach any longer the swill that lives in supermarket aisles.

I hate shopping at Whole Foods. I should make this clear. I have nothing against the market itself, but I cannot stand Whole Foods Midtown. The bile rises as I curve eastward down Ponce in the perilously narrow lanes, dodging illegal left turners and schizophrenic pedestrians. The shopping center that houses Whole Foods is a testament to everything I tried to avoid when I chose my neighborhood in Atlanta. BMWs litter the lot. Bored shoppers in designer sunglasses walk obliviously. Everyone drives like they are late for an appointment, and common courtesy (like letting someone turn into traffic in the face of a line of SVUs) is ignored. My teeth are regularly clenched until I finally turn off my car.

Inside Whole Foods Midtown is queer. The market feels like most other Whole Foods markets around the country. The clientele is wealthy, hip, or cool, or some combination of the three. Gym built bodies, ankle tattoos, Ralph Loren Chinos, meticulously disheveled hair, immaculate makeup. The staff is unbelievably knowledgeable and helpful. The gentleman I asked to point me in the direction of Kalamata olives asked if I had seen the olive bar. This instantly made me picture martinis, but I must have shaken my head, because he touched my arm and said "you will LOVE it." When there were no Kalamata olives at the olive bar, he fetched three different brands in bottles for me to choose from.

It occurs to me at some point that my discomfort around so many beautiful people is unnatural. Or unreasonable. Or both. Or whatever. The point is, after collecting all the materials necessary to construct tabouli, shrimp for a Saturday cookout and various other supplies to get me through a week, I realized only after I paid and had put the groceries in the trunk that I had forgotten the Q Tonic. But because I will have gin and tonic this weekend, and because I made the goddamn trip anyway, I went back in.

Adobo Chicken, Philippines style

While searching for cooking instructions for adobo chicken, I came across this Philippino recipe, which I must try some time. Might be a good weekday chicken preparation--simple and quick. For instructions on crockpot cooking, check this site.

garden up!

The flowers on the Barbarella eggplant first bloom ...

... then swallow a grapefruit

Look ma, no suckers!

All in all not bad

Pollinators in a short bed

Did a few things today worth talking about.

1) I've begun really trimming off the suckers, especially from the bottom of the plant. This helps air circulation (apparently) and more importantly discourages bugs.

2) For what it's worth, the suckers on my Orange Blossom vine grew fruit. But now those low arms are hanging on the ground. And I found ants all over my Orange Blossoms. On one in particular. I knocked them off, but no telling what this means. I propped up both the lower branches to get them off the ground.

3) I planted two more perennials in my mailbox plot, both of which are supposed to fill out the bed and provide more flowers to attract pollinators. In addition, I moved another cutting of golden pineapple sage to the front, making three in all. They really do thrive, and should send up beautiful red flowers in the fall to attract the pollinators.

first fruit

The tomatoes are beginning to produce. The first large tomato was, to no one's surprise, the Orange Blossom. Also in the basket are red sweet olives, yellow Juane Flamees, and a cucumber. I'm getting four or five cucumbers a day.

Raised Bed Gardening

I have a variety of new seeds to plant (a gift from a neighbor), and would like to begin the process of raised bed building. I've found good instructions in Sunset magazine, they are for sale by square foot gardening, and I found some great ideas (all well out of my reach, but oh well) on houzz.

I would like to start with two raised beds, simple enough to do. One would be for moonlight green beans. I think I could do something simple and small, like a 4 x 6 (or 8) box. I'd also like to raise a small corrugated tin box in my herb garden to raise my herbs, preferably by about one foot. It would be easy, and then I could also plant vines that would drape down over the metal and onto the rock barrier.

Here are a few ideas about unorthodox raised beds:

<div><a href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/1046835/Edible-Garden-eclectic-landscape-san-francisco'><img src='http://st.houzz.com/simages/1046835_0_3-5592-eclectic-landscape.jpg' border=0 width='240' height='320' /></a></div><div style='color:#444;'><small><a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic/landscape'>Eclectic Landscape design</a> by <a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/professionals/landscape-architect/san-francisco'>San Francisco Landscape Architect</a> <a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/pro/arterra/arterra-llp-landscape-architects'>Arterra LLP Landscape Architects</a></small></div>

OK, the picture did not embed.  Here's a link. Bottom line is that I am somewhat reluctant to start building temporary raised beds out of wood. I would much prefer to use reclaimed materials, especially galvanized tin. I am looking for an aesthetic as well as a practical solution.

Double Yield Cucumbers

Dill-icious

We are now at the point where 2-3 cucumbers are coming off our vines daily. I have pruned back the plant to kill any besotted leaves, and just to slow the outward growth. These invasive vines appear to propogate ad inifitum, making me wonder if it would not be better in the future to plant two rather than three of them. Of course, my slow growing cucumber plant may "keep the party going" after these first two plants are spent.

The cucumbers it produces are crisp and fit. They are heavy on seeds, but the seeds are not bitter in the slightest. The skin is thin and a luminous white-green, and also eminently edible. I have taken lately to cutting half a cucumber into thin slices, dropping them at the bottom of a big glass along with some dill, filling it with my homemade club soda, and taking this into the garden in the evening. However odd it might seem to put dill into a spritzer, it is a natural match to the cucumber and sates my desire for savory and spicy concoctions (preferably calorie free ones).

I like this cucumber better than the marketmore variety I planted last year. So this was, at least, one move in the right direction.