§ It is the start of Apple season and I’ve finally found a variety I like—zestar. They’re crisp and just a bit tart where I find most apples are either mealy and flavorless or way too sweet.
A man in front of me in line at the orchard asked an employee for help choosing the type of apple he prefers, saying “I like ‘em hard and sour.” At first I thought this was hilarious but now I’m starting to think this might be an apt description of my preferences as well.
§ Last week I picked a cute little ornamental pumpkin we’ve been growing. It has been decorating our front porch ever since as a sort of leading indicator of fall. It wasn’t until a few days ago that I finally remembered that it is actually an edible variety that we planted. Thankfully, Alice linked to a great harissa roast pumpkin with tahini recipe at the perfect time. It came out really well and has me excited to grow more varieties of winter squash next year.
§ My fig plant is larger than ever this year. At least ten feet tall and covered in countless tiny nickel-sized budding fruits. While waiting for them to grow and ripen, I’ve been researching using the leaves for cooking. Apparently they can impart a sort of tropical coconut vanilla flavor. I tried making a quick batch of fig leaf sugar. It had an intriguing—though not necessarily delicious—flavor. More “leafy” than “tropical.”
§ The oak tree saga is over and my backyard feels alien. I’m more emotional than I expected to be about the loss of the tree. After a surprising amount of consternation from the arborist, I was ultimately able to convince him to cut me a couple of 3” thick round slabs from the trunk that I hope to eventually turn into table tops.
§ Earlier this spring Caroline’s coworker gifted her a few dahlias tubers. Finally, this week the first one started blooming.
§ This week marked the start of our annual two week public closure at work. It’s a time set aside to undertake big maintenance and construction tasks without the typical day-to-day distractions of a public museum. This year we decided to re-carpet our entire second floor exhibit space which, of course, required moving all of the exhibits at least twice. I have moving them all back to look forward to next week.
§ On Friday evening I went to a concert for the first time in quite a while: Molly Nilsson at Happy Dog. She is an artist whose music really clicks when it is played live. I was not prepared for such a late night though.
§ We’re just about to enter the very short season where pawpaw fruit ripens. Some way, I’m determined to finally try the fruit for the first time this year. Some might recall that I bought a tiny pawpaw sapling earlier this spring. We are still years away from it bearing fruit though.
To that end, I’m going to attend a pawpaw talk later this afternoon. There is no promise of fruit there—we are still quite early in the season—however, I figure the chance is as good as I’ll ever get.
