ARTSCAPE!!!!!!

ARTSCAPE was awesome, as always. I mean how lucky are we as this is the country’s largest FREE outdoor art festival…and it is right in our backyard! (Well, if by backyard, you mean an hour after driving on the expressway.)

So much to see AND do at this event…the Art Cars in front of Penn Station are always a hoot, the Performance Artists along the Charles Street Bridge offer lots of self-involved, participatory, hands-on activities, and a vast array of Artists’ Booths in all mediums/categories/styles spanning for numerous city blocks…. you name it, ARTSCAPE’s got it! Several big-name Concerts, Fashion Shows and Films – all FREE!

The fact that they are also doing their best to make this event environmentally conscious & friendly with an entire ‘GREEN GARAGE’ and SUSTAINABLE/ORGANIC FOOD COURT with plenty of recycling cans scattered about makes it even better - compared to a lot of free public events I’ve been to.

(If you want a smoothie around here, you better start pedaling!)

My favorite vendors in the Green Garage would have to be Baltimore Free Store (http://www.baltimorefreestore.org/ ) where you can “take what you want & leave what you can” at one of their 60 markets around town. Their way of keeping things out of landfills is for you to donate your used clothes & household items to them. Then they literally give everything away for FREE! Genius! Another would be the Portable Gardens…(http://www.portablegardens.com/) basically a salad in a shopping cart. Also The Loading Dock (http://www.loadingdock.org/ ), a very green business whose motto is ‘Don’t Dump. DONATE!’ for all construction, remodeling and building materials. Very cool as we are connected to this area of business and plan to use this company in the future.

Gotta love Martha Rotten’s (http://www.martharotten.com/ )‘not made in China’ lead-free pewter goth-themed jewelry (yes, they are REAL bones, chicken I was told?) And Steven Malone’s Poetic Earth Designs (http://www.poeticearth.com/ ) leather bags and tree-free sketch books & journals. Clever Cat Bags (clevercatbags.com ) recycled coffee bag bags…fashionable irony - this is a real trend now (I have had mine now almost a year) and my daughter couldn't resist one of their 'organic coffee' messenger bags for about $40. Also Dan Lachman and his Sharp Shirter (shapshirter.com ) business w/tees and self-sticking laptop, ipod & phone covers…really cool for this self-proclaimed round-the-clock-video-playing-college-slacker.

But my personal ‘Best In Show’ award for the weekend would have to go to James 'Jimbo' Pollock (http://www.jimbopollocksart.com/ ) Hampden’s own ‘Hubcap Christmas Tree’ guy and his recycled mechanical parts sculptures. Makes me want to gather a bunch of junk from my husband’s shop and start welding…totally awesome!

Year after year I continue to be amazed, impressed, fascinated and inspired after a trip to ARTSCAPE… 2009 certainly was no different.

Corn & Values Are Here...

There is just something to be said for living where I do. I mean, growing up in the big city had its perks and I do love the charm and closeness of a small town…but rural ain’t so bad after all.

Just yesterday I pulled up to our local farm stand after seeing their ‘sweet corn’ sign for the first time this summer to pick up a dozen or so for that evening’s meal – when no one is around, just a metal box on the table that says ‘please pay here’, a price list on the shed above, and a trailer filled with ears of fresh corn. Yes, you guessed it – the Honor System still abides here in rural Harford County. How great is that? Even in this tough economic climate…old fashioned trust and wholesome values prevail.

BTW: the corn was pretty awesome too!

A Secret No More...

Just a short ride east on Route 543 (past the commercial favorites of Cold Stone and DQ) lies one of the greatest summer pleasures in Harford County…Brooms Bloom Dairy Farm Store& Café. You would be surprised how many people I know that live in Harford County but have never even heard of this place – which leads me to my hesitation of ever writing about it in the first place.

Sometimes, when it is something you enjoy so much, you realize that it IS so great because of its obscurity; its complete local flair and small-town charm. When these things finally do become SO popular that you find yourself dreading the hassle it sometimes takes to get there (take Boordy Vineyards, for example – which I do still love and frequent and will obviously continue to write about – BUT Boordy has definitely changed since it’s ‘free picnic’ days). You want to keep such a treasure a secret to protect its charm, its simplicity, its magic – I mean, the line @ BBD on a summer Saturday or Sunday evening is out the door as it is – do I really want to blow its somewhat elusive cover???

Well, I have decided to share my affection for this place despite my previous selfish agenda…

In addition to the incredible ice cream (and the numerous ever-changing flavors to choose from), they offer a great lunch/ lite-fare dinner menu as well. There are individual choices starting at $2.75 and two, three or four-course ‘prix fixe’ meals that include some combination of quiche, salad, yogurt, sandwich, fruit, soup, cheese, nuts, wrap, etc…and ALL include a small ice cream for $6-$11. The food is fresh, healthy, entirely local and, oh yea…delicious!

Even though the farm store/barn is open year-round every day except Mondays, summer is the best time to experience Brooms Bloom at its finest…sitting outside on the covered deck or sunny lawn, in a rocking or Adirondack chair, or perhaps with the whole family at one of their huge picnic tables all while taking in the gorgeous rural views of the countryside - this is THE greatest way to do so.

And if you’re lucky, they may even have live outdoor music on the deck to enhance your experience…

Hopkins Spring Fair!

At the last minute on the very last day of the Johns Hopkins Spring Fair, I decided to make the trek down to the world reknowned Homewood Campus. Hopkins has always held a place in my heart - my mom worked in the Biochemistry Department of the JHU School of Medicine for 35+ years - so it always feels like going home for me.

Of course it had to be the one weekend in April where the temperature soared into the upper 90's! If that wasn't bad enough, the beer garden's entire keg supply was NOT in trucks (or even iced!) and was nothing but warm foam...this really put a damper on my day.

As I always do, I gravitate toward the student-artisits' booths...an incredible mix of creativity and genius on every level. From an Asian student that hand carves wooden frogs that make a real frog sound when the tiny stick provided is rubbed on it's back to a Jewish painter whose visits to Jerusalem's Wailing Wall inspired his latest emotional works to a self-proclaimed hippie-chick's laptop protectors/purses made from recycled coffee bags... ( http://www.labudde.etsy.com/ ) ...pure genius!
















The artwork, crafts, clothing, jewelry and food reflects this very diverse, multicultural utopia in the middle of Baltimore City...it truly is a treasure.

To Market, To Market...

Call me crazy (you wouldn't be the first) but I just gotta have my Farmers Market Fix...even on this - one of the coldest mornings on record. Since there is no year-round outdoor farmers market in Harford County, I am off on an hour long trek to the 32nd Street Market in Baltimore. (FYI this is the ONLY year-round outdoor Farmers Market in Maryland, except for Tacoma Park).

As cold as it was, the place was jumping as always and I could smell the Ethiopian Delights as I opened my car door. The hot foods - literally & figuratively - were the big sellers this morning...wild mushroom consume, chicken curry, still-warm tea cakes, as were the breads, spices, cheeses, eggs, milks, and Zekes Coffee of course. I left there with several of Barbara's (Neopol) quiches and one of Harmony's vegan pizzas for a quick healthy dinner later that evening.

As I made my way back through the crowd to my vehicle, I looked around and wondered 'why can't we have this?'. Bel Air could certainly benefit from a year-round market. The downtown businesses would certainly reap the rewards of bring shoppers into the area on a regular basis. Take a lesson from this market and have artists, musicians, and various year-long vendors in addition to the regular 'seasonal' farmer types.

Then I notice that they have OUR local farms selling here...One Straw Farm, Brooms Bloom Dairy, as well as others from PA and Glen Rock and Westminster and Elkton - surely Bel AIr would be a great asset to them as well...perhaps on a Sunday afternoon instead of Saturday morning?

Just a thought...