It is harvest time, the tangible reward for all the many reasons I love gardening. We have more tomatoes than I have ever grown before and make and bottle enough salsa and tomatoes to use for stew and chili to last all the non-ripe-off-the-vine months of the year.
I never feel so alive as when I am in the process of a harvest. I do not know if it is some sort of deep down DNA survival trait from all the farmer ancestors and ancient humans who would not survive without the drive for finding and preserving food or because I have such fond memories of gardening and preserving food with my parents.
My father is the gardener to set your match to. He always has the first ripe tomato, the tallest corn, and the most abundant beans. He keeps records like a scientist and is always trying new varieties and different ideas for the best crop. As a teacher gardener he was at his best--- the most patient, the most kind, the most happy. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of planting the garden with my dad, watching the first green shoots appear, and excitedly eating the first ripe food. The stress relieving process of digging in the dirt and killing a few weeds after a day at a desk having to fill all the forms of government red tape and to be polite to people who don't necessarily deserve polite-- is both of our way to relax after a work day. I have taken what my dad taught me and made it my own. My garden might be on the wild side, not as tall or abundant, but that same love of earth is there. Greg also adds the artistic to our garden. There is always some visual point of interest... Curves and flowers, stone and wood, all make our edible landscape more than just a harvesting ground bare in the winter season of the year.
Preserving the produce of my dad's garden was my mom's domain. It was my marker to adulthood. To work side by side.... my one tomato to her five, gradually year by year closing the gap. It is time to talk, to think, to hear stories of her youth, to be together in a positive and productive activity. I am so thankful to have a daughter who loves this process. At 13 she can already match my ability with a paring knife, in ways she has already surpassed me. She has an intuitive precision and artisticness to her food preparation that I will never have.
It is a beautiful thing to watch both my children run out to the garden and pick a bunch of produce to bring into the kitchen and prepare for dinner. Both have developed a love of fresh fruits and vegetables and find creative and delicious ways to present them.
I hope they will take what we have taught them and make their own unique harvest.
No comments:
Post a Comment