While Grandma Annie traded garden-grown vegetables with her neighbors in Frenchtown and waited for the egg man to visit each week, Grandpa Harry tended to his garden in the old cattle traders' neighborhood across town.My father's parents lived in the shadow of downtown, in a gable-and-wing shingled house with a tidy backyard and a full-fledged carriage house, instead of an old weathered shed. Once Harry retired from the railroad, he planted a garden of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots and peppers. A sidewalk from the house to the alley ran down the middle, making it easy for Harry to nurture his vegetables. There he was every morning, wearing the denim overalls he wore while working for the Chicago-North Western Railroad.
Harry was not a particularly tall man, maybe five-foot-ten or eleven, but there was a bigness to him, and a hale and blustery manner. His family was Belgian, Walloons, whose family names were typical of those given to short people, I learned in college.
He was industrious in his gardening habits and we always had fresh vegetables in the summertime.
I don't see much of Harry in myself, and my father was much more like his mother, Grandma Laura. But I will always associate Harry with fresh vegetables.
Today, I buy my vegetables from farm markets or the farm stands that are now open along the highway and at busy intersections. I'm buying tomatoes from local growers, and fresh onions, which beat anything I can find in a grocery store.
I'm growing my own cherry tomatoes and I've noticed they are especially healthy this year.
What's in your garden? Or your farm market basket?
13 comments:
Hi Mimi!
Peach season is winding down...I only had to scoop up 10 lbs of fallen (rotting) fruit today. They just come so fast and in such quantity, I can't keep up! I made gelato and also some muffins I shared with the neighbors. White peaches have a shelf life of about 5 minutes--its just crazy. The birds and squirrels get most.
Yesterday I got two heirloom tomatoes ($5!), some basil. long beans, corn, grapes, and pluots at the farmers' market.
Gardening is not my thing, but today I took advantage of a cool, overcast morning and weeded my herbs: mint (inherited from previous, Persian homeowner) and oregano (my input). You know, weeding mint is not so bad....it smells really good!
I would like to be your neighbor, MaryRuth! I love peach muffins. Mint, too, BTW - and it is one thing I do not have in my herb garden this year.
I've given up trying to grow tomatoes, because the rabbits are too quick and get them before I wake up in the morning to harvest. Instead, I've concentrated on herbs -- almost every herb you can imagine for cooking -- and have two pear trees that are bearing a huge amount of fruit this year. There will be a flurry of chutney making with those pears in October.
Mmm... I love peaches. My parents used to have fruit trees - peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots - and I remember making lots and lots of jam and dried fruit paper.
I have two tomato plants - a lemon boy and a beefsteak - but they've far outgrown their tomato cages and are now falling all over ach other and the basil planted next to them. There's also a new blueberry plant, onions, garlic, and ginger.
I'm also building quite the herb collection - lavender, savory, thyme, tarragon, lemon balm, spearmint, dill, oregano, marjoram, sage, both curly and Italian flat leaf parsley, and the aforementioned basil. I'm currently on the lookout for chervil.
And then there are my grapevines - Thompson seedless, Pinot Gris, Zinfindel, Merlot, and a Cabernet Franc. No fruit yet, just developing their structure.
I find myself wanting all kinds of food-bearing plants: Meyer lemon, orange, white peaches and nectarines, bay laurel, avocado, shallot, leek,... I could probably go on forever.
Hi Mimi, I go to the markets every week. I've made Strawberry, blueberry and raspberry and blackberry jam so far. I bought some heirloom tomatoes that is for tomato tarts. Green beans, broccoli, onions, leeks, apricots, cherries and peaches are soon to follow. I grow herbs of all kinds on my patio. I don't have a yard so I'm limited on gardening space but my patio is full of herbs and flowers.
Nothing in my garden this year...It didn't get planted what with selling the house and mon mari slacking off in hospital. And no fruit due to a bizarre frost. The really stange thing, is, here in farm country, there really aren't 'farmer's markets' Everyone grows their own so who would buy it? (I would)
Oh yum, Lydia, I love chutney! Some critter is digging up stuff in my yard, too.
Oh, Annette, you are so lucky! I love peaches and nectarines - must do something with the ones I have on hand...
Tomato tarts! Oh, Judy! My deck is my produce garden, as usual. But I'm only growing tomatoes and herbs.
Katie: When is the move? Will you be in the southwest by mid-September?
I have a deck in Paris, a dream-space where I grow plants - and lots of flowers in summer. In a corner, I have all sorts of herbs.
How wonderful to have that in the city, especially a city life Paris. Now I will look at every green space and wonder if it is yours (in the brief time I am in Paris this year).
I am visiting Green Bay(where I lived 'till age 23) from Seattle(which has been my home for 31 years). While some changes have put a wistful lump in my throat, there are other changes that certainly 'do Green Bay proud'.
One being the impressive farmers' market on Broadway which I visited on Wednesday. Pike Place Market in Seattle may be year round but Green Bay's summer market surpasses them in the quality of the vegetables. I hope the vegetables and produce continue to be the highlights; in Seattle flower growers and crafts now out number produce, much to my dismay.
Mimi if you are at the Madison Farmer's Market tomorrow (8/2), stop by Luna Circle Farm's stand -near L'Etoile - and say hello.
Teresa, I will try to make the Green Bay market sometime soon!
Mary, I was not in Madison, but in Sonoma County on Saturday - sorry!
But I did enjoy a farm market stand near Santa Rosa!
Mimi
you are fortunate to be able to go and buy fresh produce from farmers market , i would love to do that too but staying in a city that is not possible.
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