Harvest: To Gather
Contributed by Sheri White, Nourish Volunteer
The gathering has begun by the end of July and into August and onward. Before any meal, I take a bowl or a colander and a pair of scissors, and I go outside to gather the options the garden is offering up for meals.
I prefer so many things raw this time of year, and I can make quite a dent in the garden as I munch away on things that are so fresh and warm from the sun. I serve small bowls of cherry tomatoes with whatever I am preparing for dinner or add fresh peas and herbs at the last minute into a stir fry. But like all aspects of gardening, there are no guarantees.
The other day, I realized that the deer finally figured out a way into the garden, and they finished the beans. I'll do better next year, as is the cycle of learning.
We plant and care and hope, but we do not know, until we see our garden grow and begin to gather, how our efforts have paid off. The care for the garden is such a constant and meditative act that harvesting does not feel laborious but more like the feeling you might get before you open a gift.
With my "spindly" asparagus being the first item for harvest this year and strawberries, herbs, and lettuces following quickly after that, I am now into my favourite time of summer - raspberry season. To stress again that I am a beginner, I confess that I planted my raspberry bushes along the side of a bed interspersed with perennials. I didn't realize this may not have been the best idea until my hairstylist and I talked about our gardens and I shared my good raspberry news.
"I planted six or eight plants," I said proudly.
"I love raspberries," she responded, "but I have always been worried about planting them since they spread so fast." (The sound of brakes screeching or a needle dragged across a record player could be heard in my head.) What's that now?
Fast forward to this year, and those six or eight plants are still doing well, and the thirty to forty plants they have spawned for me have been pruned out or placed in huge pots around our yard. But I would eat raspberries year-round, so I am not unhappy that they are so happy.
Another plant that has taken off in my garden and greenhouse this year is the nasturtiums. I have yet to find a good recipe for nasturtium salad, so I would love to find one and add that to my repertoire.
What do you do with your nasturtiums? Do you eat them or just gaze at them adoringly?
