Welcome to this week’s post, which features our second photo essay! This is a project I’ve been working on all summer, and it brings me great joy to share it here. On Friday, paid subscribers will receive a recipe for an all-purpose fall crumble. It’s a good one!
There is nothing that brings me more joy on a hot summer morning than wandering through the stalls of the farmers’ market and loading up a tote bag with whatever happens to catch my eye. At a certain point this summer, I finally admitted to myself what Colin has always seemed to know: often, what comes home with us tends to be what looks prettiest and most interesting, not what fits in neatly with our meal plan for the week.
Cape gooseberries, for example, were one of my most purchased items. They came home with us in small brown paper bags and took up so much real estate in the fridge that it began to look like they were growing there on their own. To be clear, I have no regrets about this: they became one of my favorite fruits to snack on and I’m still so fascinated by their murky, sweet yet savory flesh that I’d buy another bag tomorrow. They’re wild, and if you’ve never had them, you should seek them out next summer.
Every week, I came home with treasures. Grapes, peaches, plums, and so many types of eggplant that the kid manning the stall acted as though he was getting a pop quiz when I asked him to name the varietals. Stalks and stalks of celery, which became one of our favorite vegetables this summer. Squashes whose skin was stained with Impressionist patterns and melons whose perfumes seeped out from below their ridged rinds. A whole, dried sunflower head. Tuberoses, amaranth flowers, and irises. Our table (and crisper drawers) overfloweth.
Interesting dinners notwithstanding, my market addiction ritual inspired what became a weekly highlight. Nearly every Saturday, approximately one hour before the sun went down, I loaded up a few choice pieces of produce from my market haul and set out on a walk. The goal was to find a piece of grass unoccupied by children playing (though we love to see that!) to set up shop. I had no real goal, except to remind myself that sunlight on fresh fruits and vegetables produces a certain kind of magic.
In my work life, I mostly shoot with artificial light—a necessity, given that nature’s whims and deadlines don’t often work hand in hand. This collection is a celebration of sunlight, particularly summer sunlight, and how it combines with dirt and water to give us this abundance.
Enjoy!
Thanks as always for reading along. See you back here on Friday for all-purpose seasonal crumble!