Sunday, August 9, 2009

FIRST MEAL OF NEW POTATOES TODAY

     Yeah! that's right! Today was the first day this year to have new potatoes from my own garden! For an avid vegetable gardener the best treat from the garden is to have new potatoes. Next, comes corn. Then beets. You can talk about flavor, freshness or whatever. It all fits when it comes to new potatoes. Working to grow a vegetable garden is all worth it when it comes to consuming the fresh new produce.


     I often wonder why I love growing a vegetable garden. It could be in the genes. My father and Grandfather on my mother's side lived for their vegetable patch. I think it has more to do with the food available when I grew up. You can go back to my "Isolated Farm " piece. My Mother was an excellent cook, but the supplies she had to work with were limited. She canned beans and peas. She made lots of relish and pickles. However, potatoes, carrots,turnips, parsnips and beets were stored in a root cellar. By January, carrots and beets were pathetic. Turnips and parsnip lasted a little longer . Potatoes had to hang on until July. They were in dreadful condition. So you see that when new potatoes were ready, they were a real treat compared to what we had just been eating.


    So I guess I never lose that experience of new vegetables from my time as a child.