Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Flavors of Summer's Past




This week's prompt asked us to describe your favorite fruit or vegetable: the first time you tasted it, where it came from, where you were, what memories it brings.

Hot summer days. My brothers and I spent them outside. The half acre field behind the house was our haven. Overgrown, our paths through it well defined. 

Around the house were several trees. All perfect for climbing. 

We ate our first fruits there. 

The old cherry trees, with sappy branches. If we could beat the birds, we feasted on bright red cherries. So tart they made us shudder. 

Wadded up in the weeds were black raspberry patches. We ate them sun-warmed. The berries sweet and smooth flavored, leaving our fingers purple stained from grabbing. 

The old pear tree was stingy. Only producing every other year. Soft yellow-brown fruit. The sugary juices rolling from our chins as we ate. The cores dropped where we finished. 

The old concord grapevine. Almost wild. The skins were eaten first, slightly bitter. Then the meat of the grape. A full, sweet, lightly tart flavor that drew us back for more. 

And on the side of the road behind the field, one neighbor had strawberries. As big as our hands. I think we ate more than he harvested. But he never said a word. 

I miss those days. Eating the gifts of nature at our leisure. The flavors still stamped in my memory. 

15 comments:

  1. Love each fruit and each memory that you shared...and now I must have a fruit salad (OH SO HUNGRY!) Thanks for linking up!

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  2. Your delicious memories make me wonder if there are any places left like that for children to enjoy. Not in North Texas, that's for sure. Darn it.

    Visiting from TRDC.

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  3. I love that you shared so many fruits!!! Great job combining them into this prompt!

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  4. @Crayon Wrangler, I know just remembering made me hungry!

    @Ash, we are replanting many of the fruits. The old pear and black raspberries are still here. So far the ones we started last year look good. Grandkids may get to relive some of this. I hope.

    @KPugs, I couldn't decide on just one. They were all so good.

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  5. How beautiful! What a great memory. I do hope that I'll be able to share this sort of experience with my kids (and will if we stay here: peach, cherry, fig and citrus trees, blackberries and tomatoes).
    Reading your comments, I'm excited for your grandkids too!

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  6. @MadWoman, Oh, figs! I wonder if they'll grow here. And we still need to replace the cherry trees.

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  7. I love this. This is the sort of childhood I want to give my children.

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  8. Oh that last line- perfect!

    Yes, those days, and those fruits, sound absolutely wonderful!

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  9. @Mandy, I'm trying to recreate it for the Grandkids. And me.

    @Galit, thank you. They were wonderful. Sigh, to have that leisure again...

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  10. I agree w/Mandyland. This is SO what I want for my daughter, too. I love it. It's a perfectly written post for this prompt. Love that your neighbor was so cool, too. ;)

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  11. @Andrea, thanks! It was a wonderful way to grow up.

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  12. My Grandmother's house had a quince. So temptingly like apples, but only sweet with much heat and sugar.

    I like your visions of growing up, and what they'll mean for your grandkids as they grow!

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  13. My brother and I gtre up eating apricots off our tree in the backyard. Those darn birds always got the good ones!

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  14. @CDG, it won't be quite the same for them. This place is now in the city. It was rural when I was a kid. But, they'll get to be urban farmers.

    @Mrs.Wonder, I think I remember an apricot or maybe peach. But they hadn't been cared for, and produced little. We did put in a dwarf peach last year. Looking forward to see if we get a few fruit this year.

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  15. Such an idyllic childhood memory. I remember going berry picking and whining about the heat as we searched the roadside for wild blackberries. But when we finally ate some, it was all worth it. There's nothing better than picking your fruit and biting right in.

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