So this is the beginning of my fifth year living in Wellandport and my third year getting my vegetables from Linda. Spring is a fabulous time of year for me, new beginnings!! It was such a long, hard, cold winter. And I ran out of homemade tomato sauce sometime in January which made the past four months almost intolerable. Alas.
My first year in the Tree and Twig CSA, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I didn't recognize half the stuff in my basket, but I was excited to learn. There were hits (sorrel!) and misses (ground cherries!) but I *always* found homes for the stuff I didn't like or was scared of, as tasty heirloom veggies are easy to find second homes for. I have friends who drool when they see me coming with a baggie for them. My Spanish friends LOVE the tomatillos, my Philipino friend says the ground cherries are the delightful flavour of her childhood. Smoothie Sarah will take any and all kale I give her, but I often save it for myself. Christine (who fancies herself a parsely afficianado) squeed so loudly, I thought she was joking. She wasn't. Said Linda's parsley was the best parsley on the planet. And Christine lives in the Middle East ten months of the year!
And the tomatoes. Oh the tomatoes. If my basket just held tomatoes, I would be so fine with that. It's all gravy after Linda's tomatoes.
This year I decided to share the love. I sent out an all call to my colleagues about Linda's Tomato Days this weekend and said she had 96 varieties of heirloom seedlings, and if anyone thought the trek from Hamilton to Wellandport was too daunting (Bah! I do it daily!), I would be so kind as to take orders and deliver to work on Tuesday.
I have found out, of course, that 96 varieties doesn't even scratch the surface of what she offers, but it's the list I gave the colleagues, and it's the buzz of the office. Pineapple is already sold out, but Linda assures me she can suggest a suitable substitute. We were giggling in the office over some of the "one to two pounders" some plants produce, versus "VERY prolific" cherry varieties. How do you pick just a few???
I have orders for 20 plants at the moment, and more to come as people bring me their money by Friday. I'm hoping they all fit in my car! And I'm going to have to head down early on Saturday, lest she sell out.
Never mind that there is a big community garage sale at the Wellandport Community Centre, same bat time, same bat channel. And my yard saling habit is up there with my T&T tomato habit. So I'm giddy about Saturday!!
Also: giddy about the upcoming season! I don't even care that it's going to be a late one. All good things are worth waiting for.
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