Farmers Market

Last week, the weekly Baltimore Farmers Market & Bazaar put a no-smoking ban into effect. This market has been around for 34 years, selling locally produced goods at stalls set up under the Jones Falls Expressway. On a typical Sunday, the crowds are large, the aisles tightly packed with arugula eaters. Banning smoking there is a no-brainer. You wonder why it took so long. A market that sells cheese made from the milk of Garrett County goats, bacon from hormone-free Carroll County hogs, and heirloom apples from Western Maryland is not likely to be a gathering spot for people who want their lungs filled with tobacco smoke (whether or not the tobacco was locally grown)

Just wanted to draw everyone's attention to a line in Laura Vozzella's story about the new Baltimore Food Co-op , which should be opening mid-spring. It will take over the same space where Cheryl Wade now operates the Mill Valley General Store on Sisson Street, off Interstate 83 in Remington. In her story, Laura points out that Mill Valley "has been known to sell Gunpowder ground bison for less than Gunpowder itself sells it directly to shoppers at area farmers' markets.

Smokers, step away from those cantaloupes. Starting this Sunday, the Baltimore Farmers' Market & Bazaar will be smoke-free, the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts announced Wednesday. It's the office's attempt to promote healthful living in the city and one more measure to curb smoking in the state, which already has the fourth-lowest percentage of adult smokers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "This declaration was made so that farmers and patrons can have a clean environment," said BOPA Executive Director Bill Gilmore in a statement.

There were no strawberries or asparagus — yet — but there were cases of kale at the Baltimore Farmers' Market & Bazaar on Sunday, and crates and crates of collard greens. And plenty of people. Crowds thronged to the marketplace under the Jones Falls Expressway to see what Maryland's bounty looked like in early April, the market's earliest opening by a full month. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who dropped by the market on her way to church, was among the crowd's respectable but not record opening-day numbers.

You can thank asparagus. The Baltimore Farmers' Market & Bazaar opens Sunday, its earliest opening date ever. Until 2003, when it was moved up to the first week in May, the opening came in early June. Bill Gilmore, executive director of Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, says the market's earlier opening is a response in part to its increasing popularity. "We've had such a huge increase over the years," Gilmore says. But farmers also pushed for the change. This might sound counterintuitive to marketer-goers whose senses remain dulled until they see the season's first strawberries.

Welcome to Project Fresh, a blog about cooking, style, home design, and living the do-it-yourself lifestyle. Who am I?  I’m a simple girl, originally from Arizona, who somehow made it all the way to Baltimore (after many days of hitchhiking and only a sack of potatoes to sustain myself). Before I got here, I went to school at Northwestern for journalism, creative writing, with some art in there too. I’m a designer by day at b, and I’m crazy about style and design in all areas of my life.

With Thanksgiving looming, Kim Thomas and her sister Zina went shopping Sunday for feast fixings where they always go this time of year — under the Jones Falls Expressway. Expecting upward of 20 family members to visit their East Baltimore home on Thursday, the pair made their annual pre-holiday run to the Baltimore Farmers' Market and Bazaar under the JFX, and, by late morning, had bought so many goodies they couldn't hold them all. Zina Thomas, 45, clutched a bag of onions.

The Annapolis Market House might not be confined to its four walls. Plans to revitalize the historic market call for a farmers' market just outside its doors, in addition to a new layout inside that will include vendors such as a French bakery and an oyster bar. New, bigger doors and an emphasis on highlighting merchandise in the windows will give the relatively small market an expansive feeling. "We want to open it up and go back to the heyday of the market and really reimagine it," said Baltimore-based developer Lehr Jackson, who presented his vision last week to the Economic Matter Committee of the Annapolis city council.

I grew up in a household of four boys and multiple dogs. We had a basset hound with impressive leash pulling power who, in pursuit of a neighborhood cat, once yanked my little brother through a cactus patch. We had a golden Labrador, a beautiful bird dog, who, when out for a walk, would suddenly stiffen and "point" at doves in distant driveways. We had a spirited Irish wolfhound whom one of my brothers brought home, along with a new girlfriend. My mother disapproved of both the girl and the hound, and they eventually moved on. While I don't own a dog now, I consider myself dog-friendly.

Sunday, Aug. 8 'Cool Waters' Exhibit running through Aug. 27, features works that evoke the serenity and restorative value of water at the Artists' Gallery Annex at Lakeside Cafe in the American City Building, 10227 Wincopin Circle, Columbia. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday or by appointment. Information: artistsgallerycolumbia.com or 410-740-8249. 'People Worth Knowing' Exhibit featuring photographs by Columbia photographer Stanley L. Rodbell runs through Aug. 28 at the Himmelfarb Gallery at Tai Sophia Institute, 7750 Montpelier Road, Laurel.