39. Suzanne's Garden in Provincetown, the Ottawa Organic Farmer's Market, and a Holiday Playlist
Let me take you back to Cape Cod this week for a tour of the lovely and somewhat secret Suzanne’s Garden in the East End of Provincetown and a virtual tour of Ottawa’s Organic Farmer’s Market in Ontario, Canada. Happy Sunday, Happy Scrolling and if you are feeling festive, here is my holiday season playlist for your Sunday background noise. Best to shuffle as it’s mainly whole albums back to back.
Suzanne’s Garden
The East End of Ptown is a quiet area dominated by art galleries, bougie queer intellectuals (who exude a level of cool we all try to attain), and lost tourists that thought they were going to Ben and Jerry’s but walked too far down Commercial. We normally stay quite central around Bradford Street and City Hall, so this was the first year I heard about Suzanne’s Garden after some garden googling about Ptown.
The garden is named after Suzanne Sinaiko, who spent her summers in Provincetown and has been maintained and altered by various people over the years.
I imagine that this garden is in its prime during the Springtime, unfortunately the wisteria pergola had stopped flowering (but was bean-ing), by the time we visited and the day was quite overcast. We still enjoyed perusing and enjoying the solitude of the garden on such a quiet day. There is such a charm to a misty New England coastal morning. The garden itself is open to the public, with benches to read and relax.
There are hidden corners of the garden filled with tokens of visitors left behind for others to discover, which reminded me a bit of geocaching.
Ottawa Organic Farmer’s Market
Growing up in Canada, I remember dragging my parents to the lacklustre markets that existed back then. Waxy apples, too many types of honey and kitschy knitwear dominated, since the Canadian winters prevented local produce being something of interest or even possibility. Luckily, in the last few years the renewed interest in organic and local produce has grown and markets have multiplied. I noticed this especially in Ottawa, which has always had a bit of a granola underbelly, it used to never stray past a Bridgehead sidewalk, but has now gained momentum.
This might go over your head if you are not familiar with Ottawa, but along Riverside, across from Mooney’s Bay Beach, there is a church that also doubles as a community centre/garden and location of the Ottawa Organic Farmer’s Market. It is small but bustling, friendly and well-equipped, even selling unique items such as locally foraged medicinal mushrooms (Canadian Reishi anyone?).
The market is open surprisingly year-round, every Saturday morning. Although I have yet to visit in the winter, I hear it thrives with root veggies and homemade canned goods and confitures (great if you are looking for stocking stuffers).
When we visited at the end of August this year, the community garden was producing the last tomatoes, and delicious homemade sauces, syrups, baked goods (made from freshly milled grains) were all churning out of the farmer’s stands, with luscious herb bouquets drawing in customers.
There is another small community garden along Bank Street at a point between The Glebe and Centretown. Grab a coffee at Arlington Five (where I visited too many times for the Lulo Finca El Limon roast) and watch the volunteers (in warmer months) tend to their mini vegetable garden across the street.
I couldn’t resist, two Canadian tuxedoes? So glam
Morning reads
Some things nourishing me this week:
Blossoming Christmas Cactus
In Andalucía, the best kumquats I’ve ever tasted, like pure sunshine
The view from a little slice of heaven
Spanish Christmas Cookies
Foraged bouquet from a friend <3
One of the best jams I have ever tasted
Know anyone living in Ontario or visiting Ottawa sometime soon?
Still not subscribed?
Full Moon Rising over Nerja
