I can find seashells everywhere on Sanibel… even at the Sanibel Farmers Market! Seriously, all of these veggies were made by Barbara Walling using different seashells. Dont you remember Barb? I filmed her making other shell art creations a few years back and she is still creating such fun shell crafts. Aren’t these the cutest veggies you’ve ever seen?
If you want to see this in person, you only have a few more weeks since this market is open seasonally from November through April where Betsy, Jean and Sherrill proudly display it at their booth.
You can even find seashell soaps at the market…
Honestly, I’m not much of a cook but when I have guests over, its fun to buy local fresh food and mingle with the island peeps like shellers Mary and Jim that I met on one of the iLoveShelling cruises to Cayo Costa.
But anyhoooo…back to the shelling on the beach. Here is a sampling of shell treasures I found at Gulfside City Park one morning this weekend.
Just after I met Nora, Mac, Dan and Molly (visiting from Illinois) I heard a loud “Whoa!”.
Mac found a SAND DOLLAR laying under some seaweed just like this and then fund a few more.
Then Molly asked me what this unusual bivalve was. It’s a SMOOTH DUCK CLAM. They are so fragile, it’s hard to find one that is not broken- so good finds!
I always say that there are enough shells on the beach for everyone because different people like to collect different shells. Sydney and Lori tom Indiana were trying to find broken shells and shells with holes in them.
They like to find the shells that already have holes in them so they can make jewelry. I love that they were getting so creative! I had to chime in too and told them that I like to collect the OLIVE shells without tips to make bracelets (for my tutorial CLICK HERE) and also explained how to make a seashell mobile too with broken shells. There are so many fun ways to decorate with shells!
PS- I got all my fresh ingredients at the Sanibel Farmers Market to make dinner because it was my turn to host for my book club (we’ve been together for 12 years!). I used some ideas from Pinterest and it was a fun, successful night with my girlfriends. If you like to read, this is my favorite book I’ve ever chosen that every sheller or treasure hunter would enjoy…
I LOVED that book. I was on Sanibel last week and it was wonderful as usual.
Just listened to the clip on Amazon and it sounds like a great book so I ordered it…I’m forever always looking for books about the ocean, shelling, beaches, etc. Thanks for sharing! Oh, and the veggie shells are adorable! :)
Best farmer’s market ever! I strongly encourage everyone to visit. You will have so much fun.
Add to that the traditional farmer’s market mainstay: produce. Except the produce here is more unusual, there is more variety, and it much fresher than what’s available in the grocery stores!
Thanks for the book tip Pam! I am loading up my kindle for summer – I am going on a “no TV” diet. :-) Can’t wait to read it!!
This posting is so special. I was so blessed to be in Sanibel for the month of March and go the Shell Festival. I saw the Farmer’s Market shell veggies and was so fascinated with them. I also got to go to the actual Sanibel Farmer’s Market and it is so full of wonderful things. I have read “Remarkable Creatures: A Novel” and it is one of my favorites too. I didn’t think anyone else had ever heard of it. I spent the month of March scouring the beaches looking for my own treasures and came home with a whole box of wonderful things. Sanibel truly is a magical place.
Oh Pam, those veggies are sweet! Ill have to keep my eyes open for the market when I’m down there next. Such a fun post, thx slways!
Mary Ann
East Granby. CT
Looks like somewhere I would like to visit next
Week while on FMB, where on Sanibel is the
Farmers Market and what days??
It is on Sunday, near the library! You can’t miss it! Have fun!
When I enjoyed delish collard greens at SWF FARMERS MARKETS,
the best hot pepper sauce ever was made by the wonderful BBQ vendors
called THE BONEZ BROTHERS….
My fave of all their yummy hot pepper sauce varieties is named after a shell of course: Scotch Bonnet !!
Shellotte
Wow what an interesting post! Shell vegetables, real vegetables and then real shells! I really like the smooth duck clam, and also that unusual very dark brown auger you found, Pam.
I’m not crazy about veges, but I like the shell ones. What was the corn made out of? Nice orange auger. I’ll have to check out the book. I’ve read several of her books including her last one “the last runaway”-it’s about quilts. Pat
Whoa, I had to enlarge the photo of the veggies at the Market as I couldn’t believe they were shells! Very creative indeed.
I really like the auger you found at Gulfside – great color!
OMG! When I first looked at the produce on my phone, I thought it was real. I didn’t realize it was shells! I can’t wait to visit the Farmer’s Market when we are there at the end of this year.
Wow! Love the veggies and the soap! Those veggies are amazing! Please send some close ups!!!! I’ve put the book on my Goodreads “to read” list. Excellent post. Thank you.
Where is the title of the book? Dummy me! I can’t find it anywhere.
And so now the pic appears. Ha!
Can’t see it either. Would you fill me in?
It says:
“Remarkable Creatures, a Novel”
by Tracy Chevalier
oh gosh! I’m so sorry i didn’t see this sooner. thanks Susan H!
I’ll be in Sanibel all of next week and hope to see Pam on one of the beaches. Where is the Farmers’ Market?
It is on Sunday, near the library! You can’t miss it! Have fun!
Thank you for the book recommendation. I am adding it on my Kindle to read on the plane to Florida next month. Not that I need any incentive for shelling……
I’ll be in sanibel at the end of April for a couple of weeks, when is the farmers market and where is it located?
Hi Pam – love the shell veggies! I can see urchins, bubbles, olives and clams but is the corn real? That is really a remarkable display.
the kernels of corn are shells too! they aren’t local swfl shells but to me they look like tiny flat periwinkles that Penny brought me from the Channel Islands….. http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/2013/11/08/another-day-cruising-around-paradise/
Wow those shell veggies look good enough to eat!!
For those of you who love Sanibel and Florida’s barrier islands you can step back in time to what living there was like early in the Twentieth Century by reading “Yesteryear I Lived In Paradise-The Story of Caladesi Island” by Myrtle Sharrer Betz. Great read by someone who lived it. It celebrates the joy and hardship of living with nature on a tiny island on the west coast of Florida.