The Mint Patch Monologue

Tag: gardening

  • We should talk about Apples

    On my walk this morning I noticed a very sturdy tree, yielding plump and blushing apples. As the leaves have thinned, the fruit has a real  chance to show off in the golden sunlight of mid morning. I thought to myself, how tempting… just one! And then I wondered, do people even eat apples anymore? Of course they do or the grocery stores wouldn’t have displays of those perfectly uniform products all lined up and waiting to be sold by the pound. But my question is more… curious, as always. At what rate do people still plant apple trees, in comparison to a different time. A time when you’d get a phone call from the people up the road and they’d say “ we got a bucket of apples here for ya’ll”. Or better yet, they’d just bring them on over and if coffee wasn’t already on, it would be. Then you’d have a gift on your  hands and what would come first but pies, of course. Apple butter, apple sauce, dried rings, even homemade hooch. If nothing else then a sweet, crunchy snack to bridge your midday slump. What’s better than finishing an apple and chucking the core into the woods as hard as you can throw? Once upon a time school children presented the teacher with an apple and everything fell into place. One of the last times I ever sat with my great granny she had a bowl of little green apples in her lap, peeling them with an old paring knife, the handle and the blade held together with tape.

    That tree I saw was a portal to the past, I thought about Johnny Appleseed,  the mission he embarked on of growing trees from seed and his passion for conservation. I imagine Johnny found his way into our region along his way, I wondered if that tree was a descendant of his life’s work.

    I thought about neighborliness, community, someone to hold the ladder while you reached for the top. I’ve never looked towards an oak tree and wondered ..”who must have planted this tree”… but I did about that apple tree and every other apple tree I’ve ever seen.

    What inspires one to plant an apple tree? Perhaps having grandkids, or just for the sake of watching something bring forth food, something out of nothing. Maybe it’s because we want something to root for, to cheer on and to celebrate, or it might just be to hold hands with something nostalgic. Who had an apple tree in their yard from your past?

    In my yard there is a peach tree. I planted it 7 years ago and we have had nearly a dozen cobblers throughout it’s best producing years. People will warn of bees and other pests, or stepping into rotting fruit but it has been worth every nuisance. Nothing in my garden is more beautiful than rosy peaches in the hot July sun.   

    I needed a plan for Saturday anyways so in the spirit of the past’s portal, I baked an apple pie. I studied the label on a roll-out pie crust from the store and just couldn’t do myself that way, so I cut cold butter into flour and made a delightful mess for the sake of homemade crust. I peeled and cut granny smiths, and decided to find a recipe in an old community spiral cookbook. There is something special about a recipe donated for local fundraising and I’ve collected many of what I call “church cookbooks.” The one I chose was from right here in my own county, a series of recipes compiled by the Extension Homemakers of Boyd County from 1988. I was delighted to discover that the contributor of this Dutch Apple pie recipe was a lady I’ve come to know in the community, she is in her 80s now and I run into her from time to time at the neighborhood grocery store. I cannot wait to see her next, and to share with her this funny story of following her directions 37 years later.  I decided to add a lattice top, picture perfect.  
     

    In case you’re interest has been sparked- apple trees can be planted in late fall or early spring, and I can promise the first yield of fruit will be worth every effort.

    It’s hard to say how much apple tree planting is still alive, but I was happy to see this one. In a perfect world we’d have fruit trees in public parks, everyone would help to keep the trees healthy, and we’d have pie every night together.     

    I hope you get a piece of pie soon.

    Thank you for reading and as always drop me a line, I DO love to chat!

    justicesarah67@yahoo.com

  • The Garden Boss

    My, oh my, the garden. I have been so behind lately on writing from picking tomatoes, harvesting green beans, and sitting in awe of sunflowers. I have put up a few quarts of peas, shelling them was the most satisfying ritual, and now that the crop has finished producing and been laid to rest, I miss the tiny discoveries and abundant sound of popping pods. My husband doesn’t even like peas but loved the practice of growing them this year. Now is the time to decide if I want to plant another row for a fall harvest, what do you think?

    My German tomato plant has given us perfectly round and red beauties; small, somewhere in between the size of an early girl and a Rosella. They have been perfect for salads. One raised bed is entirely dedicated to tomatoes, most of them volunteers from last year with lots of cherry varieties. I  can see them blushing from the bedroom window I look out, and I like them  best still warm from the summer sun.  The crisper drawer is holding a pile of cucumbers, they really do sneak up on you if you’re not careful.  Once they get too yellow-ripe they can always be salvaged as a fresh juice ingredient or thrown to your neighbor’s chickens. That’s only wishful thinking on my end though, chickens aren’t allowed within the city  limits in town so I have to go a little further than next door for fresh eggs.

    A few discarded pumpkins and gourds from last fall that found their final rest in the garden beds have renewed themselves, and almost taken over the entire yard.  I have already reaped a nice sized, bright orange pumpkin which will be roasted and saved for November pies and pumpkin rolls. Chris makes the best pumpkin rolls and gets requests for them every year, but always makes an extra one for just us to keep at home. The other vines are welcoming mysterious little yellow and white shapes that are growing everyday, to be surprised in the garden is one of life’s greatest joys.

    There is one watermelon to report on so far, a nice dark green shade and about the size of a softball. The vine is healthy and making space for itself, of course we couldn’t wait so we’ve already devoured the sweetest watermelon from the grocery store, hand picked by Chris with skills I’m not equipped with.  I have been told that not everyone puts salt on their watermelon, which saddens me. Of course the sweetness alone is satisfactory, but the addition of a sprinkle (or a little dip) could bring a tear to a glass eye.  A salt shaker in the backyard is just as important as an indestructible spade, and a love for dirty hands.

    The bean tunnel is a wonderful place to “hang out in.” Although it’s a favorite place for mosquitoes too, it’s worth it.  I’ve placed a little table and a chair inside, and have morning coffee on the weekends. If you pair imagination with gardening you can romanticize life, feel as if you are in another place at another time, or  create something whimsical that no one else on the block has. Things like this conjure up a feeling, something sought after intentionally and then exist just to be experienced. From one garden box to another, all it takes is simple fencing poles, chicken wire, plastic tubing to reinforce the arch shape, and zip ties. Of course, there are a multitude of ways in which one can experience having morning coffee from the inside of a green tunnel of pole beans; incorporate a bit of string lighting and you can find yourself in a fairy tale-like scene, maybe a place where little mice are catching up on their knitting, where you can stay up late into the night with your nose in a book.
     

    I love  the way Glady’s Taber shared her reflections on life at the end of the day. In the summers she would talk about hard work and abundance, dreadful heat, and long days. She wrote about taking a dip in the swimming pond, and sharing the water with frogs, algae, water bugs, turtles and the occasional water snake. She mastered the ability to experience joy outside in every season.

    “Midsummer, in fact, is a good time to think about values, for the earth is fulfilling the promise of spring. I reflect that growth comes from the secret life of seed and bulb. And “as ye sow, so shall ye reap” seems a new truth. Some of the hopes I had in the spring did not, of course, come to blossom. Perhaps I did not tend them well enough, or perhaps they were not suitable to the climate of my life. But some hopes came to fruition, some plans were completed, and another season I can begin again!” -Gladys Taber

    Thank you again for reading, and as always drop me a line anytime because… I do love to chat!

    justicesarah67@yahoo.com