Summer's Bounty

Ah, May and all the new crops that are coming in.  Farmer's markets teeming with the freshness of all that the earth can give, roadside stands beginning to get their wagons dusted, owners of truck patches checking daily ripeness, and yes the local grocer abuzz in the vegetable aisle.  In retrospect I recall the days growing up on the farm in Indiana and helping Mom with her garden.  Wasn't good at tending a garden then, because I had other more important things to do...you know, little league baseball, fishing, and wading in the creek with mud between my toes.

I remember that garden like it was yesterday, how it was laid out, where it was in relationship to the house and all the green beans, peas, peppers, strawberries, sweet corn, squash, onions, potatoes, raddishes, melons, and tomatoes.  In fact I believe the best tomatoes I have ever had were grown right there in Mom's garden. The soil was dark and rich with good tilth and drainage and great for growing produce, but it could grow some weeds too.  There were no chemicals or herbicides then to control the weeds so they had to be manually removed: probably where organic farming got its start.

Additionally, I spent time watching Mom cook for others.  Not actively, but passively I knew what she was doing and I saw the pleasure in her eyes when someone would comment on the food while at her table.  Mostly just a small grin was all she would show.  The table was never anything real fancy, but it was a place where farmhands and family would come together at least twice a day, break bread and eat until you couldn't wiggle.  That's what I hope to do with this blog.  I want to create a space where all can be comforted and fed, draw a picture with my words, and weave a tablecloth with my ideas so we can all sit down together and be who we were meant to be.  I hope that this will cause you to take pause, step out of the race we are so accustomed to running, and smile with remembrance at the days gone by.