Flawed is good. You eat an apple that's a touch sour and you think -- well now, that wasn't so great. Maybe the next one will be better. Or, I saw a lily put out her first bloom yesterday and I took a photo of it. Meh. Looking at the picture later, I noticed a few weeds at the base. And the lily leaves weren't nearly lush enough. Not great at all. Will try again the next day!
But then comes along a perfect peach (proclaimed to be that by Ed) and you eat it, and the juice and texture are just right, and it's sublime, and you think -- it's gotta be downhill after this one. I had the best. You can't improve on it and you're not likely to repeat it after this batch.
(Morning walk reveals a good sweet pea growth, a lovely little poppy, and one day lily that actually does belong to the older generation so that the leaves are beautifully mature. Note how subtle the colors of a lily bloom can be! Is it white with a green throat, maybe with a touch of peach and a streak of gold?)
Breakfast, with that perfect peach.
And a pretty perfect breakfast companion!
I have mentioned that we are receiving CSA boxes of veggies from Tipi Produce. I love these farmers! The quality is there, the effort is obvious, the newsletters are super interesting. And in June, they add strawberries to the box. Moreover, they invite CSA members for an hour or two of berry picking. You sign up for a designated time slot and pick a small section of a berry row.
I signed up. And I took the young family (or three fifths of them) with me.
(Heading for the fields)
I have been berry picking lots of times. It's what you do when you have kids and then grandkids: you teach them about berries and you let them experience the joy of popping fruit, still warm from the sun, into your mouth. But it's not always 100% fun. The berry u-picks are vast and there is almost always a good bit of walking. And it can be buggy. And hot. And the berries vary. Sometimes they're okay, other times they're really average. Bulk seems to be the main point: people walk away with full boxes of berries. Probably for jam making and pie baking.
Not so at Tipi's.
Their berries -- at least the ones we picked (they do grow several varieties) are magnificent.
I mean, over the top. So that even the reluctant fruit eater popped a few into his mouth.
Snowdrop was a pro, not once complaining about the thistle that does invade the berry plot.
The sun was warm, but not hot in the morning. We surely were lucky there!
The perfect berries I picked came home with me (the young family took their share home with them) and now I am left with the dilemma. Just put them in the fridge and eat them? (They're organic and straw keeps them from getting sandy so they don't need to be washed!) And then go back to store bought berries? After eating these perfect ones, picked just minutes ago?
Snowdrop stayed at the farmhouse after berry picking and I offered her a peach, and she, too, proclaimed the peach to be just grand.
This is after she devoured an orange and a mango. On top of all those berries. I refrained from offering her cherries. We haven't finished picking them, but even I think that there is such a thing as too much fruit in one day. Maybe.
And dinner? I'm back to making pizza. Must use all that fresh early summer basil in the garden! At least that sweet herb is not perfect. It's just basil.
(before)
(after)
