Food City

This morning I went to Fernandez just as they opened and the distributor, Tourtellot, was delivering the produce. I asked the trucker when Tourtellot picked up its produce. He said 1AM, in Warwick. It used to be in Providence at the train yard, years ago. I remember, because the Tourtellot trucks were in view below my studio window at the CIC mill complex (now called the Foundry). I've always wanted to go to a wholesale fruit and vegetable market in the wee hours!

Later I went up to the dairy farm and spoke to Jared who was wearing a green Wright's Dairy hooded sweatshirt but with his wife's name embroidered on it. I smiled but didn't mention it. It was probably 4 am and still dark when he put it on! I asked if any calves had been born and he said yes there were four born in the past four days! Darn, I missed them again! For years I've wanted to see a cow being born. I asked, do they give birth around the full moon, like fish? He said yes, but also when a low pressure system moves through and all the pregnant cows are lying down there's usually a birth following.

I talked with Jared about how I love to make yogurt and yogurt cream cheese from the fresh milk. For cream cheese all you do is let yogurt strain through a coffee filter overnight and you have your own cream cheese. You can use the whey in soup or bread or just drink it --it's full of vitamins!

The new red barn is now complete. I will go see the cows in their new milking parlor someday between 3-5 PM. Or 4-6AM!

Later still I walked to the fish market, tied Lily out front, and went in and asked about where they get their fish because I want to go along on the fishing boat. They said they get their fish delivered from a distributor in Boston. Then I went into Walt's Clothing next door. Lily was invited in! I looked at the bright rain gear and day-glo vests and work shoes. On the way home I walked by Pepin Lumber and saw two houses and a farm behind the lumber yard that I had never seen before. The houses are the Pepin family homes and next door, behind Honey Dew Donuts, the Pepins have a horse! So there ARE horses in Woonsocket! I stood and watched and it came over a few times. Lily actually barked! A woman on break from the donut shop told me there were four long-haired cows next to the Stop and Shop in Lincoln. I'll have to go see that!

Then I walked down a bunch of streets I'd never been on in 21 years of living here. I even found another fenced-in baseball field where I could run Lily. She got herself tired in three minutes of running in circles!

The sun came out and I turned over a few more chunks of weeds in my little yard with a pitch fork. I still have yet to spread the manure in the garden! I put the screen in the back door - we had all of the windows in the back room open today. The whole neighborhood was happy about the Spring sunshine.