Early Harvest

Rudy picked this green pepper last week, many weeks before it was ready to harvest. It was supposed to ripen red and lush but I guess it was too hard to deny the impulse to pick the fruits--literally--of his labor. He loves red peppers and this was a plant of his choosing. I was initially irritated to find it loosened from its branch, all that potential thwarted. But then I thought, well, we might as well enjoy it! So we brought it inside and washed it (after I took far too many "artsy" pictures of it. See above.) and I sliced it up while Rudy hopped up and down excitedly next to me. It tasted grassy and clean and not unlike fresh garden peas, actually. I thought Rudy was going to lose his mind from love of the whole experience. It was exactly the kind of reaction I had imagined when I was originally planning a garden of edibles early in the spring. I had all these ideas about how Rudy and I would sift the soil together, tamp down the seeds, water lovingly and often all summer long until harvest time. Rudy, however, was much more excited by stomping the young sprouts and kicking over the terra cotta pots on the patio. It was a rough start.

But since then, he's really come around. He loves to help water in the evening (and occasionally turn the hose on Paul or me) and picks me something weedy and wonderful every night on our walk around the block.

He's also fond of sampling the garden delights. I'm fairly sure he understands which of our plants are for eating and which are not. It's not unusual to see him run up the hill in the back yard for a mint or basil break in the middle of his play. Burgeoning foodie or botanist? Either way's okay by me.

Thyme gone to flower. Pretty, isn't it?

Mixed loose-leaf lettuce we grew from seed

Husky cherry tomatoes--he eats these like candy. Or will, when they ripen.

Mint. So much mint we could never, ever use it all. Anyone want some mint?

I blame Paul for this. Stinging nettles or, in German, brennessel, hold some magical nostalgic pull for him. His grandmother used to make a soup from the leaves that he remembers as being delicious. So delicious, in fact, that last year he got some seeds and planted them in a pot. We never did get enough nettles to make soup, and eventually the plant died, but apparently not before it shed some of itself into the soil of my garden. So now we have various little patches of brennessel growing amid the other plants in there, and I only discovered this after I was weeding and was sure I had been stung by a hornet. Nope, just the nettles.

Nasturtiums in bloom. Rudy loves to munch their peppery leaves. Just like in Oma's garden!

Basil. I cheated and bought a supermarket plant. But it's doing well and did wonderful things for a turkey Bolognese sauce I made last week.

Cilantro grown from seed and absolutely thriving. So exciting. Might even surpass mint as my favorite summertime herb. Try it in black bean and mango salad with red onion, jalapeno, red pepper, corn, cumin and fresh lime juice. Over grilled polenta. Or coconut rice. Oh really, what can't cilantro do?

Small seed from our Golden Rain tree in not-so-small hands