August 31, 2007 – I love my local supermarket, Gardenworks, in Salem, N.Y., which sells fresh produce, cheese, pasta, flowers, soap and vases, cider donuts, muffins, pies, pumpkins, and all sorts of good stuff to buy and eat. When Gardenworks closes in January, I resent it, as I have to go to a real supermarket and buy processed foods in plastic surrounded by linoleum, bright lights and big shelves.  Gardenworks is close to the farm and is where I often hang out. The people who work there – Brigitte, Arlene, Meg, Corinne, Jen – are friends, and always have something nice to say to me, and, especially, my dogs.
  The food presentation is pretty classy. Since I rarely look at calendars, I drive by Gardenworks to see when the seasons are really changing, and when I saw the pumpkins and squash and Mums all lined up, I stopped to take some pictures of my local market, one of the many reasons I love the farm and love where I live. Meg Southerland, who is the mastermind behind Gardenworks, a reinvention of the farm, has taste far beyond me, and gently pushed me to take some original pictures, for which I thank her. She is great in many ways.

Supermarket shelves that are neat to look at