Plastic or Cloth?

This morning, while shopping at the Park Slope Food Co-op, I noticed this contraption:


What a great idea! Simply wash your old plastic bags, hang 'em on the wooden prongs and reuse them after they dry. Brilliant, eh? I'm not so sure...
Ten minutes earlier, I was picking through the red skinned potatoes when the woman next to me said "That is so neat, where do you get those?" She was referring to my cloth bag, which, incidentally, was a shopping bag from a dress I had purchased in SoHo two years before. I explained that the co-op sells drawstring bags, and my brilliant friend Kris had also made me some out of an old sheet. This is one of many, MANY incidents that have occurred since we switched from plastic to cloth. It mesmerizes me how many people are mesmerized by the use of cloth bags to put produce in, when it is, in fact, much easier than reusing plastic bags, wooden contraption or not.

Ou est le jardin?

Ahhh...summer is here-- or it certainly feels like it. The hot days of sun mixed with some rain in the evenings has been great for our garden. After a few sad weeks of all our plants being eaten (it turned out to be rats, but a neighborhood cat now patrols) we were able to turn our little plot into a small but thriving oasis. When I miss a day or two of visiting the garden, it always amazes me how much everything has grown in my absence. We've been eating the basil, sage, rosemary and lettuce so far-- and looking forward to the beets and tomatoes down the road. There's a mulberry tree producing tons of fruit right now, although most of it is out of reach. I had a grand idea of making jam from the berries, but I only seem to be able to pick enough to eat five minutes later....so jam might have to wait until berries are super cheap at the co-op.
Our garden is a true blessing; we've been barbecuing like mad ever since the first nice day hit. Despite the roar of traffic and a siren or three, it feels peaceful in the garden and it has become a small escape for us. I've been reading Alice Water's Chez Panisse Vegetables and Chez Panisse Fruits (from la biblioteque), and I think I would be perfectly happy eating berry cobbler and grilled asparagus in our garden all summer long...