By Bob Orr
It was just this morning, early, about 7 am. I made my usual trek to my twenty-four square foot garden to cut some red zinnias for our living room, do a little watering and pull one carrot. I've waited since late May for this time of the year - the beginning of the carrot harvest. Since they're not all ready at the same time, I need to peek down and around green twenty inch bushy tops to examine the point where top gives way to root. Do I see a little bit of carrot above ground? That's a good sign. My gardening book says I can carefully push the soil away coming at the carrot from the side and test it's size and if not ready then replace the dirt. I'm not good at this procedure. This morning I got a good one! Bright orange, plump with a characteristic wide top and medium taper to the tip. After washing it off in the hose and cutting off the top, slowly I take the first bite. The crunch and flavor is a little fourth of July. This is not the carrot you bring home from the grocery - how long since picking?, where grown and packed?, how transported? No, this is a carrot grown lovingly and organically since May. This is a carrot not a minute out of it's earthy home. I crunch it up into little pieces and hold them in my mouth just to savor the flavor. It was eleven months ago since I had my last home grown carrot. I tickled the earth with a seed this Spring and here's my reward. It's worth the wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment