Can We Talk 2

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

         Oh, the wonders of nature's bounty! There's nothing like locally grown strawberries. Although, I do recall delectable strawberries purchased in the Everglades one January long ago. I swore those were the best I'd ever had, and they may have been. The strawberries I grow in pots on my back porch are small and not so tasty. I have to be vigilant to get them before the birds find them.

         I also love local tomatoes. They're so much better than those shipped from another state or country or raised in a greenhouse. And with those local tomatoes in abundance, you can make salsa to your liking or many salads. When I was growing up, my parents had their own garden and we ate tomatoes at every meal. Mom canned them with no air-conditioning. I washed the jars and boiled them and the lids before she assembled the goods. Then they had to be hot packed or put in a huge pressure cooker. Dad gave it away without consulting with any of us kids. The hand crank strainer for making juice and the giant funnel, he gave away, too. They cost a lot new. even after I left home, I didn't know how to make chili or spaghetti without Mom's quarts of tomatoes. Those metal cans just come in second, way behind.

         We had many other goodies that we took for granted and thought were blah. Now we're all middle-aged and pine for the good ol' days and Mom's veggies. Greens that cooked down from a bushel to a pint, green beans, yellow squash, cucumbers, etc. I don't want the cukes, but I appreciated her attempt at sauerkraut. My brother still hates the thought of pickled beats, but I loved them cut up in navy beans or other beans. They added color and flavor. Now they're a super food. I remember picking tomatoes in the summer heat, the leaves making my arms itch. I also recall hanging clothes on the line when I was home from college. The noise made me look around. The corn husks were rubbing together in the breeze making a music of its own. The sheets flapped in that same breeze, smoothing their wrinkles.

         None of us have a garden now, except for the patio pots and my herbs. I do have some blackberry bushes. They remind me of all the times we had to stop the car to pick wild blackberries, my dad's favorite. I love them better now than I did back then. We recall the hard work we all had to do to get those vegetables. The supermarket may have a lot of variety, but they just aren't as good. Or as healthy. Now the TV doctors tell us the pesticides are in everything we buy, even organic veggies. It's in the rain and comes down on everything. Still, fresh is better than canned or frozen, even with the carcinogens.