The broad beans, which I neglected to stake this year, are floppy and their stems broken. Despite my lack of attention they are prolific. Too many friends have received the dubious gift of a bag of the delicious, arduous gems.
Read MoreI slipped a juicy segment into my mouth. The juice exploded into my mouth: Honey-sweet and tart. Lush. My tongue and teeth popped the little sacks of liquid. In my mind’s eye a crowd of Californian surfers stood on their boards and cheered in unison. I glanced down to pick up another segment.
Read MoreImagine a mild chilli and some unspecified summer fruit (maybe a mango, many a tangy apple) had a burnt umber, love-child.
Read MoreFor the last few weeks I’ve been alternately avoiding the garden and clearing out the last of the summer crops.
Read MoreThe green, overlaid with the silvery colour is elegant, sophisticated. It reminds me of the colour...
Read MoreThe tomatoes, have mostly moved beyond ripe. They hang, insect stung and half rotten, half dried on the vines. A few runty green fruit droop at the centre of the plants. Some of the leaves have completely dried and hover in amongst their wilted brethren like dusty, netting underskirts.
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Wookiee remains on the stoep. His tail sweeps left and right. Left and right. His front paws stamp out a two-step and he whines at across to me – not a cars-length away. He wants to come to the garden but the dew laden lawn presents and impenetrable barrier.
Read MoreI recently posted a picture of an African Horned Cucumber (also called Jelly Melon) onto a gardening Facebook group.
Read MorePotatoes are the Obi Wan Kenobi’s of the garden – master teachers to this student of gardening. Their lesson? The unknown.
Read MoreSince planting the veggie garden my interest in gardening weather has escalated. It seems that the garden and I do not always agree on what constitutes the best meteorological conditions.
Read MoreRhubarb, it turns out has a lot to teach us about substance over form. In my opinion desserts have been going downhill even since the seventies. Ever since they stopped being pudding and became dessert and “stodgy” was codemned. Specifically, I mourn the demise of rhubarb related puddings.
Read MoreI’m leaning over the kitchen sink. I take a first bite of the first peach I have ever grown. The skin is slightly tougher that commercial varieties. There is a milliseconds worth of hesitation as my teeth encounter the skin and then break through. Sweet, peachy juice erupts in my mouth and dribbles down my chin.
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