Some of this melon is certainly lost to us and headed for the compost pile. But more than half is looking bright and fresh! I’ve just found out how it tastes to eat the flesh of fruit you grew yourself: sweet indeed. Thank you for your gift, little melon plant.
Lost /
Well! We have our first harvest—an emergency delivery performed when the melon took a sudden turn for the worst. Apparently the pockmark left by July’s hailstorm didn’t heal well after all. For several weeks the fruit continued to grow and glow, but then the melon’s shiny green skin went brown and soft overnight.
We’ve severed its umbilical stem, separated it from the only mother and home its ever known, brought it to the alien world that is our kitchen, and rinsed its flesh. Time for exploratory surgery to see how deep the damage goes... is it a lost cause?
Deserts /
From lushly forested, lichen-dripping, ice-paved mountain summits, I’ve once again returned to my high desert home. Hello again.
Mountains /
How could I spend a few days in the mountains and not emerge with John Muir on my mind? Here are a few more of his many words of wisdom: “Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”
Wildness /
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.”
John Muir
With compliments to my friend Yuliya for sharing the sentiment with me on the occasion of our recent river walks and mountain hikes.
Wild /
“All good things are wild and free,” according to the late great Henry David Thoreau. This much I can attest from firsthand experience: the wild, free thimbleberries of the Silver Fir Campground are deliciously sweet and flavorful when plucked on a mid-August hike and eaten fresh off their stems.
Domesticated /
This “spectrum” of plants I’ve tended from seed to seedling to maturity, while diverse in their origins and characteristics, all have at least this in common: they are species that were domesticated by our ancestors. They were selected and bred for their big, juicy fruits, the sort that make for salads and salsas and soups.
Knowing that they’re going strong out back, I’m leaving them behind for a couple days to venture out into the forests and experience a taste of their wild cousins.
Spectrum /
Lately I’ve been so jazzed about the specific fruits that are coming in, everything’s been a glamour close-up. Time to zoom out and take in the whole garden at once to see how far we’ve come since planting. Here’s the whole spectrum of growth, from peppers and pumpkins to the left, to tomatoes and amaranth in the back, to Magdalena big cheese squash, cushaw, sunflowers, and corn on the right. A single bright green Hopi watermelon takes center stage at the gate.
Red /
Ahh, I take it back! There IS red on the way for sure: we had our first tomato sighting last night! Now it’s just a matter of time...
Pink /
As of yet there’s no red in the garden, although any day now I hope to see our first tomatoes and peppers. For now amaranth takes the prize for most vivid pigments with its sprays of tiny crimson petals.