This piece is dedicated to the simple and beautiful beginning buds on the trees and vines in our yard. The top two photos are of a Red Delicious apple tree, planted decades ago by the twins. The bottom bud that resembles cotton candy is that of a White Grape vine, planted by me about 5 years ago. I also planted a Red Grape vine. I wanted the kids to have fresh fruit while playing outside, without having to stop having fun to receive sustenance. The grape vines have some aging to do to produce the amounts we'd like, but we did get to share a bunch summer before last. Last year the grapes did not produce as well.
When we were children, we could stay outside from dusk till dawn, because of the plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables at our disposal. These delicacies included fresh Golden Delicious and Red Delicious apples, blackberries, peaches, pears, grapes, cherries, wild black cherries, currants, huckleberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers. The majority of these fruit trees were on our property, but the grapes were nearby at my Aunt Gloria's and the cherries at Aunt Pearl's. I don't think Aunt Pearl was really my aunt, but I called her what everyone else called her. She seemed like my aunt too! The largest blackberries were on Ms. Dorothy's and Mr. Buck's property (also neighbors), along the same fields where they held these large egg hunts for years and years of my childhood. There's nothing like those blackberry cobblers! Those three fruits were especially awesome, because we didn't eat those every day.
My childhood bestie and I would take the ripened tomatoes from our garden by the shirt-full, grab a container of Morton's and cop a squat on our front porch and commence to eating tomatoes, comparable to any candy or soda high. On other days, we would raid her family's garden for the green tomatoes, and she would fry them up for us to enjoy at her house. Sweet and Delicious Memories.
It is important to show and discuss where foods come from with your children. They too are like these little buds, full of energy, teeming with life, ready to grow. With proper nourishment and attention, they will develop into spectacular fruits of the Earth and share their gifts with the world.