We know we live "in town" and with this comes certain ... limitations.
And most of the time, we still long for the property we used to live on and the vast planting capabilities and the wealth of gardening knowledge of our Bethel friends ... not to mention the ready made dining delicacies of Lake Wylie Pizza and Patti-O Grill.
Calzones and burgers, friends. So much cheese stuffed in all the right places.
But living in Rock Thrill does have a few perks.
We have Nova's Bakery around the corner, and Amelie's just downtown to satisfy all my pastry cravings. There's PW's for the best homemade peanut butter ice cream ever, and Millstone for yummy brick oven pizza and local brewery features. And nearby in Fort Mill, $2 Tuesday's at Cupcrazed only come in second for to-die-for-ness behind the foccacia freshly baked on Thursdays at Breadsmith.
Oh my baked goods!
And have you tried the queso at Tequila?!?!
I'm telling you, the options for spending $5 deliciously in Rock Hill seem as endless as the rolling plains of Clover.
But cinnamon rolls and sundaes, a diet do not make.
Well, at least not for children.
Out in Clover the food conversation centered around fresh eggs and growing enough produce to make vegan-ism the next logical step. Sustainability! Live off the land! Farmer Mark! Farmer everybody!
But, here's the one secret I'll tell you about Clover. The one little keep in the closet hush hush. You ready for this?!?!
Even out in the country ... we bought our plants at Lowe's.
The horror! The abomination! The hypocrisy!
Clover used to have this awesome family owned gardening center, but then Walmart (and Lowe's) came to town and pushed the little guy out. Darn the man!
So every year, we'd plan and sketch, draw up diagrams and dream. And then, head to the blue box to fill our beds. It was so sad. So very sad.
Anyway, today we went to get the plants for this year's garden, and Mark took us to my new favorite place in town.
The Farmers Exchange!
Y'all, this place is the best! It smelled like ... gardening. The folks working knew their stuff. It was gritty, but beautiful. Organized, but not too much. Their flowers looked cared for. There was a cat wandering around.
I mean really, talk about love at first sight.
Unfortunately, we only had an iphone to document, and boy are iphone photos the worst. But better than nothing. Maybe?!?!
Samara chose packets for her own flower garden. Daisies, sunflowers, and something else.
And this is where you pick seeds for various plants from glass jars, so you only buy what you need. How cute?!?! How practical?!?!
Amazing, right?!?!
After today's little gardening excursion, I am excited about this year's garden for the first time.
And maybe, just maybe, a little excited about Rock Hill.
P.S. If your mouth is watering, you should probably come visit us.
Lesson Learned: What if the Farmer's Exchange is what wins me over?
Disclaimer a. There could have been somewhere better to purchase plants in Clover. We just never found it.
Disclaimer b. It seems from all my gardening posts that the only thing we miss about Clover is the land and not the people. Y'all, don't even get me started on here about my people. The posts may never end.
* Linked up at Living Well Spending Less
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