Country Mouse Monday: good eatin', no effort

asparagus now, apricots laterAs much as this Country Mouse loves to work (and boy, do I), there is also something so wonderful about the food that just re-appears, year after year, without us doing a thing.

Just walk out, take a bite.

So it goes with the asparagus, generally the first tasty morsels of the spring, and so it will be again this summer with what looks to be another bumper crop of apricots.

And while we're in the As, the artichokes aren't far behind, either!

There is always something wonderful, miraculous, about planting seeds, waiting and watching for them to break the surface of the soil, stretch into the light. 

But maybe more wonderful and gratifying, the seed planted years ago -- or the crown, as the case may be -- that continues to feed us so many seasons later, like clockwork, marking out the end of winter and the start of the warm time.

The first time I stood at the asparagus bed, snapped a spear and ate it right there, changed my whole life in a deep way.

How else could I ever have known the true goodness of its flavor, the way each bite tastes like waking up out of the cold time?  Of course, I probably could get this feeling by visiting the farmer's market and making an effort to buy and eat seasonally, but if at all possible, I wish for everyone, in no matter how small or large a way, this experience of year after year eating from your own plot of earth.

Sure, planting and maintaining a garden can feel like a lot of work sometimes.  But oh, the benefits are so many from spring to summer to fall to winter, that feeling of knowing without reliance on a calendar exactly what time of year it is just by observing the flowers. 

For me, every bite of something we grew reminds me of how cozy we are, tucked into the wheel of time, eating first what winter yields, then spring, then summer. How powerful we are, coaxing life from seeds. How careful, watering, weeding, cultivating.

Asparagus, then artichokes, and later apricots: all are a chance to savor, truly, the profound deliciousness of this world.  

Go outside, stand and eat what's growing, taste the seasons, rejoice!

XX