Reaping
...
Robb called me at work the other day to tell me that he's eaten the first tomato from the garden. Our sun-gold tomatoes, which are heavy with tiny green fruits, have rewarded our hopes with five tiny orange tomatoes.
The first two didn't even make it into the house. We each ate one, warm from the garden.
I'm sure the time will come, later this summer, when we're drowning in tomatoes. Then I'll laugh at myself for taking a ridiculous photograph of three tiny baby tomatoes.
Or of taking a photo of a katydid on an unripe tomato.
Maybe my future self should learn not to be so hard on my current self. My current self has learned to cut my past self some slack, I gnaw on the old bones of regrets much less than I used to.
Kale makes a far better dish than regret! We feast on it at least twice a week. It's kind of insane how much food these plants produce. We harvest, and harvest, and there's always more. Wonderful.
The beans, on the other hand, are likely to be a fleeting pleasure.
Speaking of harvests, we ate the first blackberries from the bushes we hacked back last summer. Not impressive at all.
Around here, blackberries are a pretty serious weed. Our bushes were on probation, but I think we'll be pulling them out next year.
What should we replace them with? I'm particularly asking Northern Californian blog readers. We grow toyon and coffeeberry and huckleberry and various wild currants for the birds. What berries should we grow for ourselves?
Robb called me at work the other day to tell me that he's eaten the first tomato from the garden. Our sun-gold tomatoes, which are heavy with tiny green fruits, have rewarded our hopes with five tiny orange tomatoes.
The first two didn't even make it into the house. We each ate one, warm from the garden.
I'm sure the time will come, later this summer, when we're drowning in tomatoes. Then I'll laugh at myself for taking a ridiculous photograph of three tiny baby tomatoes.
Or of taking a photo of a katydid on an unripe tomato.
Maybe my future self should learn not to be so hard on my current self. My current self has learned to cut my past self some slack, I gnaw on the old bones of regrets much less than I used to.
Kale makes a far better dish than regret! We feast on it at least twice a week. It's kind of insane how much food these plants produce. We harvest, and harvest, and there's always more. Wonderful.
The beans, on the other hand, are likely to be a fleeting pleasure.
Speaking of harvests, we ate the first blackberries from the bushes we hacked back last summer. Not impressive at all.
Around here, blackberries are a pretty serious weed. Our bushes were on probation, but I think we'll be pulling them out next year.
What should we replace them with? I'm particularly asking Northern Californian blog readers. We grow toyon and coffeeberry and huckleberry and various wild currants for the birds. What berries should we grow for ourselves?
Comments
As for native berries... Ribes aureum! Yellow flowers that turn to yummy little berries you must harvest before the birds do. Disclaimer is I haven't eaten one before, but I hear they're yummy.
I'm in OR, not N. CA. but I'm really happy with our Blueberries. You'll need two varieties. I have three plants. They are about eight years old now and five feet tall. So GOOD!
Yak~King blues
As for not being impressed, I must say that the wild ones are a hit or miss sometimes and seem to depend on water availability for their sweetness. Also, as F. always cautions me, for eating plain, only take the berries that come off the vine with no resistance, so willing you almost don't have to tug. For cobbler, you can pick the ones that aren't perfectly ready yet -- and trust the sugar in the recipe to disguise a few flaws. ;)
Never be ashamed of your joy and passion for the first tomatoes of the season, Lisa. It's a beautiful thing!
The beets have also been eaten and enjoyed, but I won't sow them again until late summer.
We'll hopefully be enjoying yard-long beans, green beans, tomatillos, eggplant, and peppers, along with the tomatoes sometime soon.
I know what you mean about Sungolds. The first few haven't made it into the house, but later we'll be giving them away by the basketload.
Your kale looks great. I haven't had much luck with Lacinato, even though it's my favorite.