Bountiful Provisions

What joy there is in harvesting fruit and vegetables from my own land. It all tastes so much better than anything I have tasted before. Such bountiful provision provides a crop that changes throughout the Spring, Summer and Autumn. The fruit arrives in sequence: loquots, cherries, plums, soft peaches, apricots, figs, sour cherries, peaches, melons, grapes, apples and pomegranates, and last of all the sour lemons. Now at the end of September the tomato plants, I affectionately called ‘uglies’, have offered a few last fruit and the cherry tomatoes bravely produce a new offering each day. The aubergines and sweet peppers came to life again with the rain and encouraged late pickings. The zucchinis, produced in abundance, far too many fruit for me to keep pace, and have finally given up. The giant sunflowers that faithfully turned their heads to follow the sun each day, now hang their heads and weep black tears that will turn to joy next spring.