In August, parts of the garden inevitably begin to look a bit weary. Yet much remains to look forward to. There will be flowers to cut, fruits to gather and savour, process and store away. Though its fresh, spring-like youth has passed by, the garden’s “middle age” and maturing cycle brings its own rewards.
We could say of the garden what Keith Richards (of the Rolling Stones) proclaimed in a documentary on his life: “I’m not aging. I’m evolving.”
As the garden evolves into its late summer season and beyond, it yields gifts of sun-ripened tomatoes and cucumbers, squashes, leeks and kale, brilliant hydrangeas, fragrant lilies, and full-headed sunflowers.
As I walk through the August garden, Robert Browning’s poem Rabbi Ben Ezra comes to mind:
“Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made”
All the planning and preparation, seeding and transplanting done early in a gardening season is rewarded later with many pleasures as the garden “evolves.” It’s a time for me to revisit longtime favourite dishes that bring back old memories as they deliver fine summer flavours.
There’s a broad bean salad in a lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt dressing, with cooked broad beans joined by sweet red pepper, onion, chopped raw zucchini and feta cheese.
With the first sun-warmed, ripe tomatoes I anticipate a garlic and basil flavoured, uncooked tomato sauce over hot spaghetti, dusted with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Every summer, zucchini are transformed into a tart with onion, eggs and cream in a recipe I learned to make in Italy. And during a year I spent in a tiny Greek village I observed what was called a “Middle Eastern” salad being made with cucumber chopped into a yoghurt mixture.
First, yoghurt was placed in a bowl and drizzled with a little olive oil. Fresh lemon juice was added next, along with salt and a generous amount of mashed garlic. Finally, the cucumber. What a wonderfully tangy way to enjoy the summer’s cucumbers. My daughter often mentions how she loved it as a child.
Perpetual poppies. It was a warm weekend morning late last month when two neighbours rang the doorbell and asked to walk through the garden. Karen, on a week’s leave from coast guard duty, had not yet been through the garden this summer.
They sampled raspberries and gathered a few broad beans, which they had never eaten, to try, but Karen was clearly most drawn to the big poppy seed heads. She is fond of the seeds as toppings for bagels and as ingredients in muffins and breads. Most of the peony-flowered poppies (Papaver somniferum) had dropped their petals and were in the process of ripening the black seeds that are used in baking.
These poppies, both single and double flowered, commonly appear in gardens, and self-sow to return each year. A double-flowered pink bloom is common, as is a pale mauve form with deep rosy purple blotches. Every year seems to bring its own assortment of colours. This year, several peach-coloured poppies flowered in the garden.
Every few years I add to the gene pool by choosing and seeding a new variety. This year, I grew Black Swan Lace, an unusual fine-petalled flower in deep burgundy-black. The seed was from Brother Nature Seeds in Victoria.
Tanya’s berry parfait. When I invited a neighbour to have dinner with me late in July, she volunteered to bring dessert. What she created was a visual and flavour-filled seasonal delight.
Tanya brought individual, layered desserts, in glasses. Over a thin layer of graham cracker crumbs was a blend of yoghurt thickened with a little cream cheese, sweetened with maple syrup and flavoured with lemon juice and zest.
The next layer was blueberry sauce, also sweetened with maple syrup and flavoured with lemon. Tanya thickened the sauce with cornstarch (dissolved in a little water).
The sauce was covered with more of the yogurt mixture topped with a dusting of graham cracker crumbs and garnished with fresh berries. The individual desserts had been chilled in the fridge for about two hours.
Tanya and I share a preference for minimally sweet desserts. This dessert is light, fresh and versatile. It can be made using any garden fruit or berry, fresh or in sauce form.
