HOT! Raise your hand if you spent at least an hour this week fondly remembering snow. Me, too. Weather always gives us something to complain about. But if you’re like me, you’d rather find ways to stay cool than to keep warm. So let’s hold that thought.
The summer crops are in and we are embracing the bounty that’s overloading the produce tables…in sweet progression will come the peaches and corn, the melons and pears…all thanks to that relentless sunshine, seasoned with just the right amount of rain. Let us rejoice and be glad.
Week to week I use most of this space to showcase the amazing abundance at the produce tents, and the great and varied selection of prepared foods and baked goods to eat now or take home to enjoy. We all have our favorites. A market buck to those who stop by and tell us their particular LFM pleasure…guilty or otherwise.
But the LFM is about more than food…we also have an incredible lineup of artisans whose passion is to feed the skin, the senses, and the soul…lotions and potions and soaps, salves, and scented candles. So this week I thought I’d throw some love and attention in their direction.
On any given week at the LFM you’ll find Amazing Essence, Izzie Lizzie Organics, Kiss My Soul, or Love Naturally. And you can find the who, what & when by checking the LFM schedule.
Featured this week is Love Naturally, with natural skin care lotions and soaps.
Ever wonder who got the idea for soap? Interested nerds can read a little history here, but I’m going to guess it all started with the words “I love you honey, but you could use a bath.” And BOOM! The beauty industry was born.
Ever since, humans have spent time, effort, considerable fortunes and sometimes even a bit of pain on improving themselves (and each other) and their habitats…from caves to cabins to castles. At the LFM we’ve streamlined the process a bit (we at least hope there’s no pain involved), but c’mon…you deserve a little pampering, right? A scented soak or a scrub, a healthy schmear of lotion for that sun-parched skin, and a candle to transport you to a beach in the Bahamas or a bakery in Bavaria. It’s all good.
Here in the 21st century we’re rediscovering what the ancients knew… how the natural world affects our physical and mental well-being. Essential oils from plants, pain-leaching minerals, herbal teas and distillations, and even aromas, long absent from Western pharmacology, are now rejoining the conversation as part of a holistic approach to overall health. And we’re here to see that you get just what you need. So stop by their tents, sample their wares, make some room on your list and in your basket. INDULGE!
I think I need to add one more vendor to this list: Kyle at Kay Way Juice knows a few things about plants that not only do good…they taste good, too! Stop by this week at the LFM…or at his Juice Bar and Plant Based Cafe, right inside the LEDC’s brand new Utility Works at Baltimore and Highland.
Also feeding the soul this week: Bonnie’s Wondergarden…where beauty is its own reward. Just try and resist.
In the Music Tent: Minas! Music also “hath charm to soothe…” And Lansdowne’s own beautiful couple, Orlando Haddad and Patricia King once again bring their smooth Brazilian beat to the Lansdowne Landing.
Artist of the week: Pidge Molyneaux of MWM Designs. Right in keeping with my holistic-themed treatise, stones and crystals have their own role in the healing arts and Pidge uses them liberally in her jewelry creations. Stop by and discover some beautiful medicine.
Don’t forget to read all of the information on the LFM website or FB page so that you don’t miss any of the events happening around town. Like…
LFM Kid Day happening on July 28.
Especially don’t forget that this is the LAST weekend for the special exhibit Within a Square Mile at the 20*20 House. Many, many thanks to Matt Schultz for putting together such an important retrospective of a century of life in a very special small town.
See you at the Market!
-Terry Baraldi, Livin’ the Good Life