Garden Party with Transparent Apples

Photo from Big Horse Creek Farm

This morning's Firing of the Grid was celebrated by a nice thunder shower. I did not do anything formal but lay there and enjoy the sounds of Mother Nature beside my dear husband and my darling baby girl. For her sake, I hope that the healing of the planet has indeed begun.

All throughout the day, I took time to notice the birds and animals and trees and sky and just appreciate them.

Tonight, I went to my garden club's annual picnic at my lovely friend Ann's house in the country. She has 3 acres and 2 horses and a nice pool. The evening was cool and fortunately for our little gathering, it did not rain. I got to see her husband's vegetable patch and their apple trees for the first time. I've been to their place several times, but never had an excuse to visit that corner of the property. The sunset was so lovely with the pinks playing off the thunderclouds in the distance.

And, they have what they think is a White Transparent apple tree. Ann's husband Mike gave me an apple and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Now, I am not much of an apple eater. And normally, I need a very firm, crisp apple with no hint of softness about the flesh. But this was a soft, sweet flesh, yet not mushy at all. I could have eaten a bushel if I thought there was any hope of politely doing so. I managed to procure an invitation to come pick apples on Sunday. I am so excited! I will have to bring Ann and Mike something lovely from our trip to Chicago.

As for the garden club I always feel a little silly belonging to this club, as I don't really know the first thing about gardening (decorative gardening, that is). Furthermore, I feel always conscious that despite my education, I am out of my social class. I am the only young person in a mostly elderly club, and as such, I get a lot of attention, which I like, of course. I actually joined the club, in part, because they have been so generous in their support of the community garden. And, it gives me a social gathering to go to without my family, which is a rare event for me. All of these factors taken together, however, lead me to feel just a touch of guilt after my meeting, as if I'd been caught with my hand in the cookie jar or something.

In addition, tonight was a bit uncomfortable because it was a food-centered event. I brought cut-up watermelon and a pasta salad (I was nervous that I didn't have enough watermelon for both me and the crowd). Making the pasta dish was a big deal for me. I felt a bit guilty about preparing something like that. I put fresh veggies and basil from my garden in it, and actually begged the pasta, oil, and salt from a friend in exchange for a favor I did for her. I did the prep work after everyone was in bed, and carefully hid the dish in the fridge so the kids wouldn't get into it. Then, after all that, almost no one even tried it. (There was so much other food, and I think the lack of a creamy sauce or meat made it a hard sell in this crowd.) I had a huge dish of pasta salad that I palmed off on Ann at the end of the night with the excuse that I was going to be out of town. On the other hand, the watermelon was quite popular. Go figure.

Actually, there was literally nothing other than watermelon for me to eat. But the melon was so good, it was hard to restrain myself from eating and leave some for the rest of the crowd. It's so freeing not to miss all of the other foods! But I feel so self-conscious when 20 people ask me if that's all I'm eating, WHY that's all I'm eating, etc. I haven't worked up to honestly telling many people what I'm doing. Of course, my manner probably attracts more of the unwanted attention than if I just directly, simply and confidently explained "I eat only raw fruit, vegetables, and nuts."

Anyway, dear readers, I want to alert you that I will be out of town for the next couple of days. Look for all the thrilling details of my family's trip to Chicago this weekend!

Today's Raw Food

10:30 a.m. 14 cups watermelon
2:30 p.m. Smoothie with 4 medium bananas, about 2 1/2 cups thawed mango, and 2 cups endive
6:00 p.m. 6 cups watermelon
9:30 p.m. 2 large nectarines, 1 cup iceberg lettuce, 1 stalk celery, 1 large cucumber with skin

Approximately 1850 calories, 85-6-9