To
many people, growing plants, vegetables, or any type of greenery is an
easy task. However, this is in no way my case. I am a very, rather I
should say, extremely lousy gardener. Not long time ago, I even tried
to maintain alive a very tiny cactus that my daughter gave to me as a
present for mother’s day. Needless to say, my attempt ended up in a
wrinkled, dead, sadly looking cactus. To this day, my daughter never
forgave me for letting her precious gift go to waste; and she avidly
promised by no means to give me another plant as a present.
Today,
I am no better plant grower. However, through trial and error, I have
learned a few tricks here and there, and thanks to our lovely, and very
intelligent mother nature I can proudly say that I have fortunately
ventured into the amazing habit of growing my own fruit trees in my
backyard; with great success, I believe.
After
enthusiastically reading, and later practicing about sustainable
agriculture proposed in innumerable occasions by Alice Waters; or
discovering Michael Pollan´s encouragement to bring pleasure back to
eating in his book In Defense Of Food, I have found out the incredible
satisfaction that is to cultivate yourself part of what you eat.
Persistence and hard work have let me to delightfully taste the fruits
of my own harvest.
My
story as an improvised horticulturist began in a lovely house in a
nameless town, where a once manicured lawn was rapidly surrendering to
abandonment and decay. Ordinary plants disorderly grew everywhere, and
the thirsty grass seemed more like a desert than an oasis. A cadaverous
mango tree was the only tree still standing in the yard. Just a few
yellow leaves decorated its treetop like a fragile, aged bold man.
Nevertheless, the plot was spacious and the place had a great potential
to become our home for the coming future, and the whole family
absolutely fell in love with it. (It is too bad that I did not take any
pictures at the time)
Days
passed, and we arduously cared for the garden. We watered the trees,
fertilized the soil, and colorful plants and flowers dressed up now our
new backyard, delighting us with a gratifying sight.
The
mango tree leaves flourished, and eventually flowered. Precious
little flower buds populated its once neglected branches. Soon,
hundreds of mini-mangoes fully developed into luxurious fruits, sweet,
ripe, and juicy ambrosia, which daringly tempted every visitor who came
to my house.
It was as Eve was luring Adam in God’s Garden.
One
thing led to another, and sooner rather than later I had planted one
papaya tree, two autochthonous banana trees, one lime tree, one avocado
tree, my own aromatic herb garden, and a Clementine tree. However, the
latest did not make it to this summer. I am, somehow, still trying to
find out what happened.
Early
this spring, we tasted our organic papayas, and they were sweet morsels
of delight. The papaya tree is the envy of my neighbors. And to this
day, enormous papayas are continuously growing out of it.
The
banana trees are about 5 feet tall and are still maturing. I am hoping
to dutifully enjoy some of my local bananas by March next year. Like I
said, patience is the key essence of being a gardener, a trait I yet
have to properly develop.
The
young avocado tree is still too tender to offer its fruits, but its
dark green leaves are proliferating trough the branches making it hard
for anyone to see the trunk. I can imagine myself savoring the creamy
almond taste of the avocados, once the first flowers appear. I surely
will share with you some of my best recipes like shrimp cocktail
avocados, or red onion shavings and avocado slices dressed in balsamic
vinaigrette once I collect my reward.
Planting an herb garden is a recommendation that I seriously follow
anywhere I get to live. Nowadays, more and more food connoisseurs,
great American chefs, even food bloggers like me are convincing people
to get into the habit of procuring oneself a little terracotta pot, or
if you are lucky enough, your own piece of land where to grow fresh
oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary and anything else that you can get your
hands on. Trust me, any meal cooked with love, passion and of course,
pesticide free, organic natural herbs make a huge difference in your
taste buds and in the taste buds of your loved ones.
And
so, my adventures as a food grower continue as I learn new things every
passing day. And to this moment, when I take a look at my garden, I
can’t help but momentarily travel back in time to that first sight of my
lonely, thirsty mango tree. My neglected piece of land has become my
refuge, my psychologist (because I talk to my plants,) my pride and joy.
My
point behind this story is that with this recipe that mother nature has
passed on to me: a teaspoon of love, a pinch of carefulness, a bit of
sun, and a dash of fertilizer you too can grow something very unique in
your terracotta pots, or around your garden. Something that will fulfill
an unknown sentiment inside you, which once awaken it could never be
stopped, and like an addict it will require you to increase the dose.
For starters, you can procure yourself one of those small basil aromatic
plants, follow my advice and the next time you need basil for your
Capresse salad, use your own grown culinary herbs and taste the
difference. You’ll know what I mean.
Nothing
can compare to the pleasure that it is to sample the fruits of your
hard, caring labor, and for that, I am unconditionally thankful to our
mother nature.
For now, I am just deciding on what tree I should plant next ...
NATY PIECHO
. It is for sure one of those presents that you will treasure forever.
