Rainbow Connection

When I was a stay-at-home mom and we lived on a single income, we established that Steve would do the grocery shopping for the family. He would take the kids with him on Saturday mornings while I slept late, which made me happy. He stuck to the grocery list (which I never could) and stayed within our budget, which made him happy. Each of the children got to choose one special item: a junky cereal, cookies, a toy car.

So it was a "win" for everyone.

But lately I've had complaints about the produce Steve selects. He always makes sure we have the basics (onions, carrots, potatoes, lettuce), but never with much variety. This is partly because he is a creature of habit, partly because he only shops at supermarkets (one-stop shopping), and partly because he keeps his eye on the budget.

Emily came along with me today.

So we decided that I would do the produce shopping. There is a Farm Boy near our house, so that is my destination. This morning, I brought my camera along and asked if I could take pictures.

The manager looked uncomfortable, "We're really not supposed to..." he said. "Is this just for personal use?"

"Yes!" I replied emphatically.

"Because there have been cases where our competitors came in and took pictures of the prices, the produce..."

"Oh!" I said, genuinely shocked. I guess that could happen. "No. I just think it's all so pretty. You could pretend I didn't ask and that you didn't see anything," I suggested helpfully.

He laughed and gave me permission, so I captured this rainbow.

Emily and I were greeted with tulips!

ROYGBIV: Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet

Red pomegranates (which I am too impatient to eat, unless you're supposed to eat the pips, which I do not do).

I'll bet you expected to see tomatoes. These are red Bartlett pears.

Now for the red-orange tomatoes. These are heirloom tomatoes.

Orange and yellow

Orange-yellow. Or is that yellow-orange? (And what are these?)

Yellow-and-green starfruit.

Green fiddleheads

Green lettuces

Green almonds. (Not very green, but on the faded blue end of the spectrum.)

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of anything blue. So I guess this rainbow is ROYGIV.

Indigo-black mussels

Indigo-violet eggplant. (I love the look of eggplant, but do NOT like the texture.) 

Violet dragonfruit

And now, for those of you (Diane) who are fond of rainbows, here it is all in one picture!

Bon appetit! (And thank you to the sympathetic Farm Boy manager.