On Sunday Elsbeth and I had our first, albeit modest, harvest of the season. Two of the four strawberry plants in our front bed had each produced one scrumptious red berry. We split the bounty and spent a few short moments enjoying the spoils of our labor. And while our garden will certainly not produce enough berries to make it past the hands (and stomachs) of whoever picks them, I am ever more eager to PYO (pick your own) until my red-stained fingers become crippled in arthritic pain...well, it's a possibility anyway.
.. our next strawberry treat ..
What happens when you forget to pick your broccoli? ... Flowers!
A much larger yield came from the proud and patient broccoli crowns which were picked from their center-right portion of the front bed. The broccoli has special meaning to us as small urban garderners who choose, if sometimes by accident, to draw others into the beauty, wonder, and anticipation of growing one's own food. It is a unique plant to choose for the front yard in a small but crowded side street where buildings compete with one other in the game of interior square-footage, fences, and concrete walkways in place of open green space. I'm not placing criticism on that choice, but it is interesting to consider what others find to be important.
Our broccoli, in all its glory, has served as the cornerstone and benchmark of growth and progress since the first weekend of the Granite Street Garden. It is tolerant to cold weather and thrives on little sun, occasional drought, and generally does best when you just leave it alone. Even when temperatures were cool and the only weather we knew was grey, cloudy, unpleasant days (you know, the kind that make you say - "why do I live here, again?"), the broccoli still managed to keep our interest. Matthew, our 12-yr old neighbor, recently mentioned that he always checks on the broccoli, in particular, to see how much it has grown. It is a point of interest, a show-stopper for its upright stance, our sergeant at arms. And now, it's lunch! Just in time for the tomatoes and squash to star making things really interesting...
In a trusting moment, I took Elsbeth's suggestion to try the broccoli greens with the mind that she had very recently lead me to try several wonderful and surprising leafy treats. But, alas, I cannot claim to have enjoyed or even really appreciated that experience. Broccoli greens are bitter, thick, and rigid.. and that is exactly how they taste. Even after I spit it out, the residual disappointment actually prompted me to reach for some weeds (yes - edible, nutritious, weeds) to take the sting away. I'm sure if we had not gone a little mad with greens (red lettuce, pea tendrils, and a lot more) at the farmer's market just the day before, we might have actually tried to make the greens edible.. maybe... or maybe we would have stared at them for a few days until wilt took over anyway.Admiring the harvest..
