The first mulberry pie of the year came out of the oven June 9 and it’s been rapidly disappearing. It will probably be gone by the weekend.
This year, with the exception of apricots and early Japanese-type plums, there appears to be a bounty of fruit on my fruit trees. The sweet cherry varieties were thinned out a little bit, as were the earlier-blooming peaches, but the fruit that remains on the trees is of choice quality. Some of our peach trees are absolutely loaded and will require substantial thinning to prevent the limbs from breaking and allow the remaining fruit to reach good size. This is not something I look forward to doing, but know from experience needs to be done.
There’s something special about being able to go out and pick a piece of fresh fruit from your own tree. In these shaky economic times, it may even save some money to grow your own fruit.
One of the reasons I enjoy having fruit trees is it helps keep you in touch with where our food really comes from. These days, we have become so far removed from nature, having some fruit trees helps you stay connected.
Over the centuries humans have learned how to select different varieties for the qualities we wanted and now we have thousands from which to choose. The apples we enjoy now are descended from wild trees that originated in Central Asia, including Afghanistan. It‘s ironic that the land where this fruit originated is now so torn with violence.
Peaches also originated in Asia, most likely China. It always surprises me that some people don’t realize that there are white-fleshed varieties of peaches and that they are some of the most delicious. They are no more difficult to grow than the more common yellow-fleshed varieties, but they sure cost more in the store. This is one fruit where you could definitely save some money by growing your own.
There are hundreds of varieties of plums and those that ripen on the tree taste delicious, nothing like those bought in the store, which have to be picked before they’re ripe. Although the early Japanese plums are difficult to grow because they are often wiped out by spring frost, the European types are later blooming and more reliable. These include the prune plums and gage varieties.
Planting a garden is another way to stay close to the land. I used to plant a big garden and sell at the farmer’s market, but now my brother-in-law and brother are the ones who work the soil.
Growing some vegetables that you consume yourself is another good way to understand where our food comes from and what it takes to produce it.
The same could be said of the meat we consume. It’s important to realize that the steaks, chops and boneless, skinless breasts we buy all neatly wrapped at grocery stores were at once living and breathing animals.
I like to hunt because it drives home very vividly what is involved in eating meat. I do believe that killing an animal, cleaning it and processing it gives you a deeper respect for life, as odd as that may sound.
Catching and eating a fish is another way to connect with the cycle of life and death. Raising, killing and eating your own livestock, common here in Northern New Mexico, is another
The animals we have domesticated to provide us food originally came from wild animals. The dogs and cats that now comfort us as pets had wild ancestors in their past.
Horses were at one time a prime quarry of early hunters, but then became more valued as beasts of burden, war and entertainment when they were domesticated.
Northern New Mexicans tend to be more connected to the land and the cycles of nature here than people in more developed urban areas. It’s a quality of life we should try to hang on to.