【35】Farmers’ markets...colorful and delicious @ Schenley Plaza, Phipps Conservatory Lawn, Oakland

Have you ever had an opportunity to stay on a farm? Do you still remember the crickets in the summer time, the smell of the earth, and newly picked cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelons,...... in the field?

Maybe or maybe not. The urban lifestyle we have more or less adopted have made us very distant from the earth and our food.

However, I have grown up in my grandparents’ village for the earliest 5 years of my life and would go back to that village twice a year before I settled in Pittsburgh. So deep in my memory and spirits, I long for the closeness of the farm. You see the daily toiling, nurturing, and humbling experience of farmers at the mercy of the nature, yet a good year of harvest can make it all worthwhile. I am not saying the self-reliant economic model is all good, definitely not efficient. But we also have a saying  “ Haste is a waste”, do we? Also since traditional agriculture has been around for thousands of years before machines and mass production took over only couple decades ago, maybe it’s not that bad either.

The other day, I took a lunch break at work and wandered around and about with $5 in my pocket. At Wendy’s, I was astounded when the person at the register handed me a box of Chili, a Crispy chicken sandwich and a cup of black team along with 95 cents change.  More surprisingly was that that lunch was so delicious that I absolutely enjoyed every bite!  Is the fact that those fast food offerings are too delicious to be real at such a low price a problem?

Anyway, before I digress furthermore, my point is that when I encounter Farmer’s Market in two locations in Oakland, I felt such a thrill. Although the organic goodies are slightly more expansive than those in supermarkets, I still had $10 dollars to buy one tomato, zucchini, onion, apple, and two donuts. The people who owns those stances were very genuine people too. They didn’t judge me by how much money I spent, rather how much I appreciated the good food they provided.

Beer winning trivia @ Farmer’s Market

1. There are many farmer’s markets in Pittsburgh other than the two mentioned in this post. HERE is a list of those markets compiled by Albrecht Powell, a lifelong Pittsburgh resident. He and his wife have lived in several Pittsburgh neighborhoods, including Monroeville, Shadyside, Duquesne Heights, Greentree and North Fayette. They have been the About.com Guides to Pittsburgh since 2000.

Your ID @ Farmer’s Market

1. What are the names of the produces held by the lady and gentleman in the above pictures?

【30】A pursuit of healthful living and deep belief@ Schwartz Living Market , Sou Side

You can always find a group of people dedicating to their belief and vision regardless of the many setbacks along the journey. Elisa Beck and her team working on revitalizing Schwartz Living Market is such a group of people. I had the privilege to experience the project in April 4th, 2013.

It can be dated back to my connection with Pam and the GIS class I was taking at Heinz College. I am a firm believer that classroom should be expanded to community and real projects should be brought into classroom for students to work on while they are learning new skills. So when Dr. Will Gorr required a project for his GIS class, I contacted +Pamela Barroso (Pam) to seek a real project to work on. That's how I was first introduced to Schwartz Living Market project.

Schwartz Living Market is a building revitalization project based on the very notion that a market should be a community gathering place where people can feel relaxed and close to each other. At the same time, the building that houses this market should be self-sustainable and green itself. Elisa started this project three years ago when her husband proposed to sell this family real estate. She told her husband “Wait, let’s see what we can do about it.” The rest became her journey in the past three years working with a group of volunteers to bring the healthy urban living concept into this building on 1317 East Carson street, South side.

The day, when I was in the building on the 4th of April, a brand new water fountain was just installed. An native Indian priest was invited to give a water ceremony for this accomplishment. Besides the water ceremony, there were several potential vendors in the market to showcase their products and services. Frankly speaking, everything was still under planning and nothing was established yet despite the high spirits and contagious enthusiasm of the project owner. However, the spirits around the audience was so welcoming and warm, which made me believe that something great was about to happen, sooner or later.

I received a music therapy treatment from musician Stephanie. While she was playing the harp, I laid on the bed that was connected to the music instrument. Besides hearing the music flow in the air, I felt the music and vibration move through my body. It’s such a relaxing session that made me think of those kids with special needs who I had attended back in China. They might be better off with music in their building, for the strong healing power in music notes. Stephanie told me that music therapy had been applied in many medical areas to treat patients.

The other experience I couldn’t help but sharing is the Native Indian water ceremony led by priest David Smith. The priest's voice was leading me go far away, away from stress, away from thoughts and to reach a state of tranquility. The words of the ceremony indicated the wisdom of the people who created them, their wisdom for managing the land, their wisdom for having a relationship with nature, and their wisdom for explaining visible and invisible aspects of each event.  As David said, “Water flows underground that you don’t see, but you can see the trees, the grass, and the flowers above the ground. Water frozen in the winter that you don’t see those life beneath it, but you see fishes jumping in the air when spring comes…..”

Frankly, I cried during the ceremony as if all my problems would be taken care of by the universe thereafter and I had no weight on my shoulder. I walked out of the Living Market as if I had a meditation. Energy had been restored in me and I can proceed and conquer again.

I also bought two flow-poetry (flow-etry) CDs from Kevin(Phil-osophical) and he trusted me to wire him the money after I got home with his CDs. One of the CDs was really good because that was created after his bicycle trip across America searching for the essence of sustainable urban culture. Traveling is also inspiring. It definitely showed in Kevin’s poem.

As of today, Schwartz Living Market has opened to the public. Many vendors have claimed their stands in the building. Elisa, the owner of the building as well as the driven force behind this project, has been busy as usual with organizing events, and writing blogs to raise the awareness of her project, especially the concept of healthy living in an urban setting. If you have chance to meet her, you would know her energy has come along way and will continue to proceed, further.

May the project the most success, for IT IS an oasis in the society jungle where people can shop, relax and feel close to each other, and ourselves again.

Beer winning trivia @ Living Building, Historic District, Sou side

1. There are two other Living Building Challenge projects taking place in Pittsburgh. The center for sustainable Landscape of Phipps Conservatory is working to meet the Challenge, so is the Frick Environmental Center, which will be rebuilt soon after a fire burned the building to the ground more than a decade ago. The Frick Environmental Center will be built in a historic area in Frick Park, but not an urban historical area.

2. In Sou side, 10th street to 17th street is considered a historic district, where all exterior building reconstructions or revitalization will need to follow certain building codes. This adds many challenges to some already challenging projects.

Your ID @ Schwartz Living Market

What’s the name of Elisa’s blog for this Schwartz Living Market?  Is it +1317EastCarsonStreet ? How many posts are there as of November 9th, 2013?

Note: Watch this video on Youtube and see the Living Market for yourself. :)