SALAD FROM MEXICO?!!

Something weird just happened last night when we went out to dinner.  Actually, we were on our way home from the airport, having just gotten in from sunny, WARM Nassau (more on that later).  It was late and we decided to have dinner at the Macaroni Grill on Route 1 in New Jersey (the Garden State).  So, in an effort to eat healthy, I ordered a salad and was told that they didn’t have salad because there had been a cold front in Mexico.   Mexico???!!!  Does this sound weird to anybody? I mean, really, why do we have to buy our greens from another country?  Why doesn’t the Macaroni Grill buy its greens from local suppliers?  My hoophouses are filled with greens, and you know, if I can do it, so can the area farmers.   With fuel prices rising, wouldn’t it make sense to buy local produce?  Maybe it’s because the Macaroni Grill is a chain (which is why we usually don’t eat at chains) or maybe because the goods from Mexico are cheaper even when you factor in the rising fuel prices.  Could be all of the above.  Anyway, I had to eat pasta instead of a nice leafy salad.  A salad would have been better.


So, about our vacation in Nassau.  We honeymooned in Nassau 40 years ago, and decided to go back to the scene of the crime for our anniversary.  Of course, so much had changed since 1971, but the beautiful azure blue water was still as clear and brilliant as ever.   The blooming flowers fell over walls and climbed up to the housetops.  I didn’t see any agriculture but was told that indeed there are farms, which provide produce to the natives and the tourists.  We gambled a little on Paradise Island, hung out on the beach and tried not to get sunburned, ate lots of seafood, walked for miles trying to see the ‘real’ Nassau, swam with the dolphins and was happy not to be in Pennsylvania where they were getting ice and snow.  Actually, it was hard to come back to the colder weather, but when we got home I noticed that the daffodils were actually blooming and the irises in the fish pond were starting to grow, which is a sure sign of the approaching spring.  The forsythia is on the verge of blooming and I think that after we get through this cold week, spring will be here.  I hope so, otherwise, I might just head back to the Caribbean!   While we were away, my son John took care of my vegetables on the windowsill, making sure to water them and turn them toward the sun.  He did a good job and not only did they survive, but they thrived.  The tomato plants are quickly outgrowing their space, and hopefully will be transplanted into the hoophouse in a week or two, weather permitting.  I put the tomato and pepper plants into bigger pots and even sowed some impatience seeds and put them on the heat mat to germinate.  Everything that is inside is doing well, and I am pleased with the success of my new growing rack that Ron made for me.  It's a good design as it is very flexible.  The hoophouses are bursting with greens, some newly seeded and some wintered over.  We'll be eating salad from here on out - and NOT from Mexico!