HARVESTING at my place usually happens in the morning when I take a cup of tea into the garden, breathe in the early morning air and take a casual look around. Nothing too forensic.
Each day the harvest is different. This morning a fleeting glance around the Food Forest garden reveals the Mint is rioting; might be a good time for some Mint tea with perhaps some Lemon Balm – this needs to be cut back anyway – and Lemon Thyme as anti-virals to stave off a scratchy sore throat. A few Fruit Salad Sage leaves will add a touch of sweetness. A large plunger of this can be replenished over the course of the day with some honey, slices of ginger and star anise for kick.
There’s a few people for lunch today – the Sorrel, sweet Venetian Chicory and Botany Bay Spinach are all in full throttle and even a modest plucking of outer leaves (and young tender tips in the case of the native Spinach) yield almost too much for a large salad. Add to this Aquatic Celery, Aquatic Parsley and some Nasturtium leaves and flowers.
In another day or so the wild edibles, including Nettle, Dandelion and Chickweed, will be harvested for a smoothie but today we’ll make do with some Wild Rocket – there’s a lot less of this plant than we’d like, so we’re sparing with what we take.
Of the prolific self-seeding annuals we’ll curb the enthusiasm of the Italian Parsley, Swiss Chard and Celery – these are never planted but spring up each year with gusto – and add them to the salad along with some green tops of Spring Onions and leaves of Beets, which are grown for their continual leafy harvest and ruby stems.
“This is gardening at its simplest and most pleasurable: literally a few minutes of harvesting in the early morning quiet, which also doubles as garden maintenance, over a soothing cup of tea. A time to wander around the garden in the quiet and calm before the day begins.”
Tonight’s dinner will be Thai so extra Mint, some peppery Vietnamese Mint, Lemongrass and fragrant Kaffir Lime leaves get added to the haul along with some fresh Lemons for both their juice and aromatic rind. Unfortunately, digging up some of the Galangal to harvest the root needs a bit more time than I have to spare this morning. Some fresh limes would also be nice, but the tree is young and has yet to deliver any fruit.
Inside, the leafy harvest is plunged like flowers into jars of cold water to stand in the sink and await attention later on. In an ideal world it’s best to harvest just before you cook so the produce is as fresh as possible, but this runs a close second if you’re pushed for time.
This is gardening at its simplest and most pleasurable: literally a few minutes of harvesting in the early morning quiet, which also doubles as garden maintenance, over a soothing cup of tea. A time to wander around the garden in the quiet and calm before the day begins, smell the new blossoms, crush scented leaves between your fingers and inhale the fragrance, admire the bees already busy at work, and feel gratitude for all the abundance and the ordinary miracle of nature.
