Taking the ‘back way’ from Charleston to the midlands is something I often do to avoid the heavy traffic on 1-26.

This bucolic ride through Eutawville, St. Matthew, Cameron and other small towns is filled with the beauty of crops in the field: cotton, peanuts, corn, cucumbers and soybeans have grown from seeds in mounted dirt hills to verdant acres of gorgeous green abundance. I am lulled into tranquility by the ease these fields provide. Fields of crayon yellow sunflower raise their heads to meet the sun. Along the way someone is selling grapes from the vines in their yard.

This ride takes me back to my roots in Charleston and the lowcountry and makes me long for this to be a daily part of my life again.

I arrive back in Lexington just in time to go to the Farmer’s Market filled with local vegetables, fruit and handmade items.

Mr. Jumper has sunflowers and cat tails for my table. He also has local figs, cucumber, squash and just about anything else.

Further down is a young man from the Batesburg area who has the best local tomatoes, squash and okra. His vegetables are a cherished harvest, his table a feast for your eyes. They move from ruby red tomatoes to emerald green other vegetables.

I leave with more than I can carry. We are fortunate in Lexington to have a market where things like this are available and people willing to produce them.

Meals for the next few days in our home will feature these wonderful items.

Figs stuffed with goat cheese, yellow cherry tomatoes and pickling cucumbers tossed in olive oil and vinegar, fried okra, butter beans speckled and plain, cooked low and slow with bacon or salted pork.

Try this tomato salad recipe with items from the Lexington Farmer’s Market.

Skin, slice and core 4 large vine ripe tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick. You can blanche ripe tomatoes in boiling water for about a minute, allow to cool and the skins will be easy to remove.

Arrange them on a platter with a slight well to hold all the juice. Overlap the slices as if shingling a roof. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and celery salt.

Skin, core and thinly slice 4 small pickling cucumbers and place in a bowl of 1/2 cup clear wine vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, tsp salt, tsp pepper and a small sweet onion the size of a baseball sliced in thin rings. Allow to sit about 10-15 minutes then drain

Arrange the cucumbers over the tomatoes and allow their juices to mingle. Chop and scatter 2 spring onions over the top.

Using two balls of fresh mozzarella, slice into 1/4 rounds and place on top. Drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper on top. Cover with waxed paper for 10 minutes before serving.

This tastes good at room temp or cold when in hot weather. It also is an incredible filling for a pressed sandwich.