Tasteless avocados have me pining for the farmers market

I've been a bad blogger. It's been over two weeks since my last post because it's harder to find the time now that rugby season is in full swing. I'm also not doing as many good things for the environment that would be worthy of a post. I'm in my daily driving routine to work and on the weekends I've had rugby games so I haven't made it to the Sunday farmers market in a few weeks. My routine is pretty much wake up, get ready for work, drive to work, drive to rugby practice (or go running), come home, cook something that resembles a meal in under five minutes because it's late and I'm hungry, maybe take a second shower of the day, go to bed. Then wake up, repeat. Sorry, Earth.

I wish I had made it to the farmers market this week because I accidentally bought avocados from Chile at the grocery store and am now feeling the guilt. To make it worse, the one I cut into tonight was TERRIBLE. I was too excited by the 65 cent price to notice the country of origin. I also didn't realize that the two bright green avocados I picked out weren't ripe yet so it was like trying to cut plastic. And it might as well have been plastic since there was no taste either. I'm hoping that the other one will taste better if given a few days to ripen but I'm not holding out much hope. How fresh and flavorful can a vegetable be that came all the way from South America? I've gotten pretty good about reading country of origin signs when I'm buying seafood, so this is a reminder that I need to pay closer attention in the produce department too, and not get sucked in by the sales price.

In a related topic, I liked this story in the Sunday LA Times about a woman who planted a vegetable garden in her front yard a year ago. It reminded me of my sister, whose husband planted a garden along the side of her house in Temecula. They moved last year and I hear (via her blog!) that he's planted another one at their home in Dallas. I'm jealous of her abundance (or what I presume is an abundance based on the success of her garden in California) of tomatoes, squash and basil. It's sad that it's not easy to get reasonably priced fresh produce without having a garden of your own. No wonder eating healthy is so hard. Who wants to eat an avocado that tastes like plastic? Not I, not I.