Sponsored by Slow Foods Piedmont and the NC Extension Master Gardeners of Forsyth County, this is quickly becoming a good draw for area home gardeners...and anyone who is interested in saving and sharing heritage seeds. We went last year and had such a good time that I eagerly noted the date on my 2013 calendar. I even made my Mount Carmel Pasta Salad (with broccoli from our garden...:-) to take as our contribution to the Pot Luck Lunch.
Alas, there would be no "we" this year, as Mr. T is recovering from an odd occurrence on Thursday. Well, getting a tooth pulled isn't all that odd, although at our age it is usually preceded by and followed by a good deal of pain. The odd thing was WHY he had to go through this in the first place.
He's been experiencing increasing pain in/under a crowned molar. It got so bad that he cut his travel workweek short and came home Wednesday evening...scaring me silly when he came through the back door a day earlier than expected.
He started Thursday off at the dentist's office, bright and early at 8:00, with a throbbing tooth and swollen jaw. She sent T to an endodontist in Greensboro, giving T the impression he could give T some relief and fix the problem that day.
The problem? The X-ray his dentist took showed at least 3 metal "filings," (not fillings), the kind endodontists use when performing a root canal, were UNDER the root of that tooth! What?! So many questions...where to begin? My main one was "...and no one has noticed this on an X-ray in all these years?" (It's been so long since T had the root canal and crown, that he doesn't even remember how long...)
Anyway, Mr. T called me as he was headed back to High Point to see an Oral Surgeon, recommended by Dr. Endodontist. And T was not a happy camper about that visit he'd just had...excuse me, that "consultation" he'd had, and paid $100 to hear there wasn't anything Dr. Endodontist could do...and certainly not today.
(Before T had to deal with yet another overly-impressed-with-himself out-of-network provider and pay to hear "come back next week...," I was able to find an in-network Oral Surgeon in Greensboro, one without all that haughty attitude and one who could do what needed to be done...that afternoon. Ah, the power of dental insurance.)
And what needed to be done? The Dr. had to pull that tooth. And, he gave Mr. T a scrip for antibiotics...which the other two should have done, in the very least. He also gave T some pain pills...and said the third day (today) would likely be the worst day. Dr. was right on all counts.
So, today it was just me and my basket of heirloom Nanking Green cotton to contribute to the seed exchange (you may recall that I got my original cotton seeds here last year)...and that bowl of pasta salad to contribute to the pot luck lunch table...that headed West to Winston-Salem.
By the time I arrived at the Single Brothers Workshop in Old Salem, the Swap was well-underway, and the pot-luck table looked like a swarm of locusts had attacked. Before I could get a serving spoon in my pasta salad, there were 2 people at my elbows, wanting to see what I had brought to share.
Since so many had congregated to the lunch side, that left a much smaller crowd to deal with in the seed swap side of the building. I was able to get heirloom seeds of tomatoes, watermelons, beans, peas, herbs, okra, and "soup" celery...whatever that is...many of which are from the Single Brothers Gardens in Old Salem. Hurrah!
And my little basket of cotton? It drew quite an interested crowd, including a reporter from a neighborhood paper who interviewed me and took my picture! Now, she said she'd taken well over 200 pictures that morning, so I have low expectations of seeing anything in print...but you never know...
By the time I gathered up my stuff to leave, I realized how very hungry I was...and that I was just a few blocks from our fav BBQ place in the Piedmont: Bib's Downtown. Called Mr. T to see if he thought he could manage 'cue...and he thought he'd certainly like to give it a try. Next stop: downtown Winston...
Before I could get home with the pig, though, I had to take a little detour...to Knit One Smock Too, a fav yarn shop that also has quilting and smocking supplies...to see about some buttons...and some sheep...and maybe a couple of alpaca. Tee hee.
Once home, we both devoured our sandwiches...closest thing to Memphis-style pulled pork barbecue we have found in this vast ocean of BBQ soup...which is what NC-style chopped pork, drowning in sauce tastes like to us. And don't get me started on Lexington-style red slaw...gross! Bib's gives you a choice between white slaw and red...but only because they feel they have to, being in NC. Dogs got the hush puppies. What's up with that? Where I'm from, hush puppies go with fish...not 'cue. Oh well, different strokes, right?
Inspired by looking through my bag of seed packets, Mr. T and I...accompanied by Duche$$ and Elmo...took a tour of the Kitchen Garden, which still has pockets of snow from Thursday night's fall. Believe it or not, the broccoli is still standing...still green...and still producing!
I love gardening, don't you?
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