Affordable Housing...

Garden Center Newsletter

April 2010

By Pat Dumas

Getting the garden together in the spring isn’t complete until life flies into it. Hanging a bird house and having birds whisk in and out of your yard, busy with nesting and the feeding of young, is a pleasure and a joy to watch. When choosing bird houses, there are a few simple things to look for.

Not all birds nest in boxes. Birds like Chickadees, Wrens, Woodpeckers, the Tufted Titmouse, and Bluebirds are all cavity-nesting birds and will nest in bird houses. Robins, Song Sparrows, Goldfinches, and Cardinals, on the other hand, are among the tree nesters who build architecturally magnificent nests in the crotches of tree branches and shrubs.

With the disappearance of farms, the wooden post and rail fence went away as well, leaving the open field-friendly bluebirds scrambling for homes they would normally find in the decaying fence posts. Rural lands have turned to developments, and the old decrepit trees which housed birds and other wildlife in rotting stumps are now cut down quickly in favor of manicured lawns and vistas— their charm left for the woodpile.

As more “people” houses go up, more trees come down, impacting birds and their breeding access. It limits places for hole nesting birds and causes tree branch nesters to find other options-- like under your roof or in your hanging flower baskets.

In 1890, a wealthy drug manufacturer in the US thought he was doing Americans a favor by trying to import every bird mentioned by Shakespeare into New York City’s Central Park. This poetic fancy turned disastrous. It brought the invasive, yet melodic Starling to our shores. This aggressive bird is a true survivor—winning the fight for holes in trees over our native birds. Occasionally, they have been known to bring down planes when they swarm. Offering a selection of bird boxes for our winged friends really helps native birds get a fair shot. The size of the hole is important. Keeping the holes under 2 inches prevents invasive home wreckers like Starlings and House Sparrows from taking over.

If you have a dog, offer your nesting birds some extra nesting material. They love soft dog hair, straw, Easter basket filler, and even human hair. Imagine the kids seeing a wonderful heap of trash sticking out of your bird box that includes April’s Easter fixings, and even their own hair. Things that you throw away become treasures to birds that have an eye out for soft nest linings, and binding materials that help keep the nest together. A good way to offer this material is to stuff it in a hanging wire suet feeder so the birds can pull it out when they need it.

Working in the Sickles Market flower yards, I see marvelous things. Robins nest in pots under cart shelves, and Song Sparrows make small, tight little nests in the grass and yarrow plants on the outside tables every year. The Cowbirds are always on the move there as well. Since they don’t make nests, (making no time for parenthood, they historically followed herds of buffalo and cattle on the move for the insects off the animals backs) they find many unsuspecting Song Sparrow and Goldfinch nests to lay their white eggs in. The adoptive mother gladly and generously sits on the eggs and raises the abandoned young along with her own. It’s a habit as old as time, and a bit of ecological cooperation that we probably will never understand. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and birds definitely follow this adage.

When birds inhabit your garden and make it their nursery, you will gain more than you think. Thousands of troublesome insects will be devoured and you’ll be more than happy that a bit of your blueberry crop will go to a good cause. Songbirds in the garden are taking a plunge—from the UK to Hawaii to the US, birds are being decimated by stalking house cats, dangerous chemicals, and escaped snakes and other reptiles. Sharing a bit of your bounty with them can help bring them back to their former glory. And, if you’re lucky, you may even lure a long lost bluebird to an old fence post or birdhouse in your little paradise.

Hand In Hand: Cheese Accompaniments

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea

In a beautiful pea green boat,

They took some honey, and plenty of money,

Wrapped up in a five pound note…

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon.

(From Edward Lear’s Owl and the Pussycat)

I’ve always loved the romantic tale of the amorous fowl and feline in Edward Lear’s nonsensical poem. These clever creatures were quite the foodies, stocking their small vessel with honey and then dining on quince, two of my favorite cheese accompaniments! Perhaps they had some cheese stashed in that boat as well! Whether or not you’ve got a runcible spoon handy, I would definitely recommend serving these two sweets on your next cheese platter.

First off, quince is a unique golden yellow fruit, related to apples and pears. It tastes sour and unappealing in the raw state, but turns a beautiful crimson color when combined with sugar and cooked for a long time, creating preserves or, if cooked longer, a thick paste, called membrio in Spanish. Membrio is traditionally sliced and served with the Spanish sheep’s milk cheese Manchego, but tastes delicious with any sheep’s milk or pecorino cheese. If you’d like to make your own membrio, you can find the recipe at cooklocal.com but be warned, it is quite a project. I prefer to buy the Spanish version at Sickles. Harvest Song, whose delicious product line comes from the Ararat Valley, Armenia, also makes a lovely quince preserve that compliments the sweetness in aged cheddars such as Cabot’s Clothbound from Vermont or aged goudas like Irish Coolea, which tastes like caramel candy!

If you prefer to experiment with honey, there are a myriad to choose from, including orange blossom, sage, tupelo, cherry, lavender, white truffle, and chestnut, to name a few. One of our recent blog posts has some great information on honey, so check it out! Most salty cheeses work well with a honey accompaniment, creating a contrast in your mouth. I like to drizzle lavender honey on fresh ricotta or goat cheese, topped with a few sprinkles of sea salt. The brine washed, slightly chalky Italian Roccolo is a perfect match with truffle honey – it brings out the slight essence of mushrooms in the cheese. A customer suggested chunks of Ricotta Salata with dried or candied apricots and honey (haven’t tried it yet but it sounds delicious!) and I love Parmigiano-Reggiano with a drizzle – try it and you’ll think you’ve died and gone to cheese heaven!

What about other accompaniments to cheese? You are always safe with fresh fruit, such as pears, strawberries and grapes. But, who wants to be safe all the time? Have some fun! How about pickled figs and goat cheese? Or dried fruits such as bing cherries, Medjool dates, and Kalamata figs, olives in all shapes and sizes, thinly slices hams and salamis. And don’t forget nuts, raw or carmelized, and nut breads. They harmonize beautifully with the blue cheeses, coating the tongue and smoothing out the sharpness of the blue. Balthazar’s Walnut Bread is the perfect compliment to the creamy St. Agur, while Harvest Song’s Walnut Preserves make an original, yet elegant pairing with the traditional Colton-Bassett Stilton. You can also match local cheeses with local accompaniments. For example try Beecher’s Flagship Cheddar with Boat Street Pickled Raisins, both from Seattle, or Torta de Aceite savory olive oil crackers with Spanish Campo de Montalban mixed milk cheese.

For a really entertaining evening with family or friends, print out our Cheese Accompaniment Chart (or pick one up at the Cheese Counter). We’ll help you fill in four cheeses and four accompaniments, and then you can experiment with each combination. The possibilities are endless and, who knows? You may find the perfect pairing! Please come share your discoveries with us when you do!

Enjoy!

Cheri the Cheesemonger

A Sense of History...

Garden Center Newsletter

April 2010

By Pat Dumas

The story goes that French author Marcel Proust bit into a buttery Madeleine cookie soaked in tea and all things wild and wonderful in his past came back to him. From his senses to his brain, the little bite and aroma brought back a flood of memories and inspired his famous novel, “Remembrances of Things Past.” The garden can be a place of “Proustian-like” experiences. A whiff of fragrant Honeysuckle on a warm June night can bring back memories of summer vacations past; a splash of Black-Eyed Susans, or a flutter of Sweet Peas in the wind can bring us to a far-off time and place. And when we remember gardens from our past – whether grandma’s Foxgloves or grandpa’s Roses – we remember what was good.

This is why I love perennials in my garden. They help create a family’s mini-history. A perennial garden with flowers and trees can commemorate the bringing home of a new baby, a graduation, an anniversary and other passages. Forsythia can mark the first day of spring and a graceful Weeping Cherry tree the first year in a new home. A tall PeeGee hydrangea bush that is turning a bright coppery pink in the cool first days of September means that summer’s over and the kids are back at school. Plants marking the resting spots of beloved pets or a slew of past Mother’s Day gifts find their way into the perennial garden – and memories are rooted forever.

The night before my son was born, I found myself on top of a picnic table picking Lilacs for a friend. Following the heady scent, I climbed up with barefeet and broke branch after branch in a rush to collect the wet, perfumed bunches. From then on, whenever my son’s birthday comes along (he’ll be 30 next month) I look at the old gnarled Lilac bush by the vegetable garden and remember the day he was born. The smell is lush, fresh and sweet. Just like him.

As I work in the perennial yard at Sickles, I have to admit I daydream a lot. Everything evokes a time gone by or a vivid memory. Is it me or all the scents in the air? Watering the plants deeply on a hot day reminds me of taking a dip in Cape Cod Bay and the smell of the white and purple Fluted Violas can stop me in my tracks. The little dangling red hearts (or Dutchman’s Breeches) of the Bleeding Heart wave on graceful, weeping stems in the early spring garden, and bring back a time where every plant was familiar by its old-fashioned name and not its Latin one.

Lily of the Valley sets off a chorus of a familiar childhood song; a bright blue Morning Glory vine spark the memories of vines hanging over a waning summer garden; Johnny Jump Ups herald the first cool days of spring, and Nasturtiums grace the garden air with a sweet fragrance while adding spice to a freshly mixed salad of arugula and mesclun. Certain plants can evoke special thoughts — a Virginia Bluebell in spring can evoke a dream-like state in a Southerner’s soul, while a climbing New Dawn rose can take another back to the place where they were small and the thorns were huge and menacing under a grandfather’s rose arbor.

Consider this the next time you need something a bit more special than a card for an important day — pick up some champagne and a box of Madeleine’s, and plant a memory in the ground. Somewhere down the road, it will be remembered.

Observations on Cheese and People

A colleague of mine once told me that she was really not so different than the cheese she was working with that day. The rind on this particular cheese was becoming hardened and crusty from having spent too much time in refrigeration, wrapped in plastic. The interior, however, was still surprisingly moist and supple, responding well to the loving care and attention of my co-worker. I thought about that idea and it really makes sense. They say that people are like their dogs, so why not cheese? There are literally hundreds of varieties of cheeses in the world, so I’m sure that we can find one to fit our own personality. I summed up my theory in verse:

The more I looks

The more I sees

People are a lot like cheese.

Some are sharp and have a bite,

While others do not smell quite right.

I know more than one or two,

Who spend their whole lives feeling blue.

There are those with rich finesse

Whose only goal is to impress.

Nutty, spicy, soft and sweet,

Cheese is like the folks we meet.

I’m thinking that I might be a people pleaser like Lamb Chopper, a friendly, gouda- style sheep’s milk cheese from California. Or maybe a triple creme like Brillat Savarin, a creamy French favorite that loves a party and is a bit of a softie. Hmmm, Food for thought! But seriously, cheeses really have a lot in common with the humans that create and consume them. You can find cheese in every corner of the globe, as varied as the countries, regions, and communities that produce it. Cheese is impacted by the local microclimate, the terroir, and even the particular artisan’s style and personality. They interact with their environment, just like people. For example Cowgirl Creamery in California makes a delicious, rich cow’s milk cheese packing a surprising punch, called Devil’s Gulch. The cheese is covered in dried crushed peppers from a local organic farm and is named after a ravine in the area. It reflects the region and personality of the people involved in its creation. You wouldn’t find this cheese in France! On another continent, rustic sheep’s milk cheeses are produced in the town and surrounding areas of Moliterno, Italy. The cheese is the quintessential product of its environment. Situated 2,500 feet above sea level, with its refreshing winds and moderate temperature, the town of Moliterno has been the perfect place to store and age cheese through the centuries. The earthy, slightly sweet Moliterno sheep’s milk cheeses are matured in baskets, and as they dry, take on the shape of the baskets themselves. Moliterno cheeses are hearty and rustic, products of their environment. So, the next time you eat a piece of cheese, stop and think about its personality; its history, environment, country of origin. It will add a whole new dimension to your cheese experience!

Enjoy!

Cheri the Cheesemonger

Spring has sprung in our Vegetable Department!

It’s spring and asparagus has sprung (all over our dinner tables)! Asparagus is one of the most delightful, versatile and delicate vegetables to eat in the spring and early summer seasons. Eaten on its own or in a dish, asparagus brings the perfect crunch and fresh flavors to any meal. Your local food stores, farmers market, and Sickles Market will carry asparagus all year but right now we are in peak season for green and white asparagus.

Selecting the perfect asparagus bunch is effortless. The spears should be plump and firm not soft or wrinkled; the tips should be closed and the asparagus should be shiny and smooth. Asparagus should be kept upright with the ends in a little water to keep fresh. Asparagus is a nutrient dense food and is an excellent source of potassium, fiber, Vitamins A and C, and Vitamin B6. It is high in folic acid and contains no fat, no cholesterol, and is very low in sodium. It is the ultimate vegetable for the health conscious consumers that are often found at Sickles Market.

As I said before Asparagus is an extremely versatile ingredient. Recently, we added it to penne pasta with olive oil and salt. It was simple and delicious! I have also seen it with tofu in many Asian restaurants, sitting below a lightly poached egg with hollandaise sauce, and in vegetarian lasagna. At Sickles Market, our kitchen makes a cream of asparagus soup, adds asparagus to the pasta primavera and orzo with shrimp scampi, and steams them with other vegetables for a healthy vegetable side for your dinner.

Asparagus is also used for medicinal purposes because of its diuretic properties and its protection of small blood vessels. Native to Europe, West Asia, and Northern Africa, there is a recipe for asparagus in De Re coquinaria Book III, the oldest book of recipes from the Third Century AD by Apicius. The book includes recipes from the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. This book was written at a time when many ate seasonally and dried leftover vegetables for winter use.
Fun Facts:
• White asparagus is cultivated by denying the plants light while they are being grown.

• Asparagus in French and Dutch as asperge, , in Portuguese as aspargo, in Spanish as espárrago, in Italian as asparago in German as Spargel, and in Hungarian as spárga.

• Peru is the world leader in Asparagus exportation, followed by China and Mexico. The largest importer is the United States.

From April 12 – April 25 2010, receive 15% OFF White and Green Asparagus with your Sickles Market Good Stuff Card.

Recipes:
Grilled Asparagus with Olive Oil, Lemon and Parmesan
Asparagus and Lemon Risotto

Pips, Seeds, and Bulbs...

Garden Center Newsletter

April 2010

By Pat Dumas

The “candy” of the garden center is here! The racks of seed packages bring me back to a time when every package cover was a little piece of vintage art. Although the price isn’t 10 cents anymore, a package of seeds goes a long, long way in filling a bare spot in the garden where more expensive plants are not an option.

I’ve often had folks say to me they think planting seeds and seeing them grow is too much of a bother-- not sure when or how to plant. April is a fine time to germinate seeds right outside in the garden such as spinach, arugula, romaine and cilantro (coriander). They love the cool weather and you’ll be picking leaves as early as May. Keep on planting lettuce and green seeds outside every 2 weeks or so, and you’ll have picking’s all summer into fall. Patting the seeds with your hands lightly on top of the soil gives them enough sunlight and just enough earth to germinate.

If you'd rather plant your seeds indoors for now, try the new Bio Fiber Pots (or Coir pots) for planting. These pots are made from coconut fiber, and are rich in nutrients like iron, copper, zinc and magnesium- - feeding your plants while they grow. Different from similar pots made of peat, the coir pots won't pull the moisture away from the seedlings, yet they won't drown them or let fungus grow either-- important for the young plants. Once your seedlings grow a few leaves, you can pop these guys right in the garden where you won't disturb the strong root system. A few seeds in each pot, put on a warm windowsill, will reap dozens of seedlings for your summer garden.

In April and May, with enough warming of the ground, easy-germinating flower seeds such as cosmos, zinnias, morning glories, sunflowers, and bachelor buttons, go a real long way in filling in a large space. Remember the movie, “The Color Purple”? There is nothing as beautiful as a swath of cosmos gently swaying in the late summer breeze, or a picking garden of zinnias full of hummingbirds in the late August sun. My big kids laugh at me, because I plant seeds and put the seed envelope on a stick to mark the spot—ever the kid, it just makes me feel good! Don’t worry if you don’t see seeds sprout right away-—remember, seeds can last a long time—surviving in the ground in the worst of weather. Those little “volunteers” you see every year are just that— dropped seeds from the flowers you planted last year popping up as the air and earth warm.

If you're one of the many who dig up and store dahlia tubers (bulbs) in the fall, you know the intense satisfaction of having your plants doubled. Digging them out of the ground in autumn, and storing in plastic bags with a bit of peat moss in the winter, in a cool basement, rewards you with double the flowers and plants. Dividing the tubers where there is an “eye” or green sprout, and replanting them in late spring, is really the easiest thing you can do. Come on in, we’ll show you how to cut your tubers up! That tuber may look dried up and dead, but there’s a lot of life in there. You can start your dahlias for an earlier outside bloom by placing them inside in a warm spot in some soil, and wait for the sprouts from the eyes to pop out. You can always sow them directly outside after Mother’s Day in May.

Do the same thing with Elephant Ears (Alocasia) and other tuber-like tropical plants. This plant emerges from a big, husky bulb-- about the size of a softball. If you’ve stored them over the winter, drag them out from their basement, or cool garage, and start them up in a sunny window, and they'll get a head start on growth. Just place on top of some soil, keep moist, and wait for them to sprout. Some Alocasia can grow up to 20 feet or more. Growth is slow indoors, but once outside in a nice moist spot, they take off and look fabulous by a pond or water feature. Take a look at the huge Elephant Ears in pots in Bryant Park across from the library in NY City if you get in-- they’re gorgeous and get bigger every year, since they are stored over the winter. If you have time, right across the street is the NY Public Library where you can also check out their fabulous digital gallery of botanical prints called “Nature Illustrated: Flowers, Plants and Trees, 1550-1900”. You can print them right at the library and bring them home for framing too! Instant antique art!

Imagine cosmos and sunflowers catching the breeze, and vivid blue morning glories vining up and over your fence. Add in a few Elephant Ears hogging the sun with their huge leaves, and you've got a big production. Voila! Really, there is no big mystery on how to plant a lush garden out of a few little seeds and bulbs. .It’s easier than you think and we’re happy to clue you in on the big secret. Stop by the garden center and I’ll give you some basic layouts and you’ll truly be amazed at how fast tubers and seeds can sprout and grow. If you’ve ever imagined a wildflower meadow in your yard, or a lush jungle, all you need is a pair of knees, your index finger, a few packages of seeds, some fat bulbs, a trowel, and, of course, as always-- a lot of heart.

Lofty Cheeses.

Maybe it’s because my last name is Swiss French, or because I grew up in the hilly Highlands, but I just adore cheeses made at high altitudes.
Tickling my fancy in particular are the gargantuan mountain cheeses of France and Switzerland. As large as the fearsome wheels of a Mack truck, you can picture these cheeses rolling down precipitous mountains at terrifying speeds and triggering avalanches in their seismic wake. Weighing in at almost 100 pounds, they require the efforts of at least two cheesemongers to carry them into Sickles Market.

Why the adoration? Why the backbreaking effort? It’s all about these cheeses’ appealingly nutty flavor, firm but creamy texture, and unmatched versatility in the kitchen.

What contributes to the uniqueness of these cheeses is the cows' diet. Led up from the valleys into the mountains when the snow melts in the summer (a seasonal movement known as transhumance), the cows munch on grasses and flowers that grow only at high altitudes. The flora flavors the milk, which in turn flavors the cheese.

The mountain cheeses you’ll be most familiar with are Gruyère from Switzerland, Comté (formally known as Gruyère de Comté) from just the other side of the Jura Mountains in France, and Emmental, otherwise known as Swiss cheese. If these names are new to you, I am sure you’ll come across them soon in a recipe. Other dairy classics from the mountains are Beaufort, from the French Alps, and Appenzeller, which, with Gruyère and Emmental, makes up the cheesy trinity of a proper Swiss fondue.

Fondue is a classic, but these easy-melting cheeses are wonderful in many different dishes—quiches and savory tarts, French onion soup, vegetable gratins and galettes (especially those made with thin slices of potato), omelets and frittatas, soufflés, savory bread pudding, grown-up mac & cheese (add a touch of nutmeg), and grilled sandwiches, such as the French croque-monsieur.

You don’t even need to cook them. Shave Comté onto a salad, especially one made with roasted Roman hazelnuts or a vinaigrette of walnut oil, or savor a hunk of Beaufort with slices of saucisson sec, a French dry-cured salami (Sickles carries one from D'Artagnan). Or you can let Sickles’ deli and bakery do the cooking for you: enjoy quiche Lorraine, potatoes au gratin, or crostini, all deliciously prepared with Swiss cheese. If fondue strikes your fancy before the weather gets too warm, the cheese department has a pre-grated mix that only requires the addition of wine.

If you’d like to try your hand at cooking with mountain cheeses, here are three of my favorite recipes from an exceptional cooking magazine, Fine Cooking, which you can find at the Sickles’ check-out counter.
* Yukon Gold Galette
* Summertime’s Tomato, Corn, & Cheese Galette
* Grilled Mushroom, Arugula & Comté Salad

I should note that not all mountain cheeses are monstrously large. Some, like the three-milk La Tur, are as small as alpine flowers, relatively speaking. Furthermore, not all come from Europe. American artisanal cheesemakers are doing superb versions, such as award-winning Tarentaise from Vermont and Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Wisconsin. Come by the Sickles cheese department and behold how naturally yellow these domestic cheeses are, a sign that the cows are eating summer grass and not winter silage.
And if you stop by, I’ll tell you why Swiss cheese has holes in it!
Diana the Cheesemonger

Back from the Dead...

Garden Center Newsletter

April 2010

By Pat Dumas

Spring is upon us and the birds are singing their old hearts out. I would love to think they were just singing for our pleasure or joy, but, they have a job to do—and it’s to mate. And mate some more. And if they find your yard an appealing place to do it, consider yourself lucky. You have a little healthy paradise. The Crocus too, have popped and I see Mockingbirds and Catbirds furiously pulling out their stamens. Curious at this, I found that our very expensive herb, Saffron, comes from the stamen of a Crocus-like plant. How does a bird know how to be such a gourmet? I’ll never know, but they sure know where the good stuff is. Pretty soon they’ll be shopping at Sickles.

Speaking of spring rituals, I heard some peepers (Eastern Tree Frogs) the other night in all their glory. I always hear them by the little bogs I pass- especially in Oceanport. They are protected in NJ, and the mucky areas they inhabit are fading quickly. Hardly visible unless searching closely, peepers are about an inch and a half long and sing their mating calls as soon as they emerge from their winter sleep in the mud. It’s the sweetest sound—as if summer’s calling. Surrounded by magic and legend, on Cape Cod, they call them “pinkletinks”; in Canada, they are “tinkletoes” They are the stuff of which spring is made of, and I sit back and smile every time I hear them. I'll have to walk down to the old drainage pond behind the market to listen for them after work and see if the Great Blue Heron there has a hungry eye out for them.

If you don’t have enough color in your spring garden now, never fear, a big pansy party is here in our annual yard, and it gets bigger by the day. ! I’ve never seen such a lush, sparkling crop of pansies! Red, blue, purple, multi-colored and smelling divine in the cool air, these guys never fail to please and do their job. A particular favorite of mine are the little Penny Lane Violas which grow fast and furious with a profusion of orange, yellow and deep purple blooms, much like our Johnny Jump-ups. When these darling little guys are planted in the fall, they come back strong and lush in early spring. These guys have the power to perform and last for months.

I can’t say enough about how this time of year is the best time to plant a tree. There is no blazing heat, the roots settle in quickly, and by the time the summer is here, you’ve got a halfway established tree. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to water. Water, water, water!! That’s the word. Water your trees and shrubs deeply once or twice a week for the first two years. This establishes them for a great life. Yes, I know you don’t water your big ol’ oak tree out front every week, but, it’s older and the roots go down to China!

I’ve just watched a load of beautiful and unique fruit and ornamental trees come truckin’ into our nursery. Gorgeous cultivars like Weeping Santa Rosa Plum, Reliance Peach, Summer Beauty Nectarine, and Blackgold Cherry are popping a zillion leaves right out of the pot! Intrigued by the Chaparral Weeping Mulberry, I found out more. It doesn’t bear that beloved fruit of birds, and therefore, you won’t have those gorgeous splats of purple and white on your windshield, but, it’s decorative and graceful with shiny strong leaves all summer. A real plus is their total immunity to insects and disease. It just looks real pretty in the yard where a bit of informal and graceful structure is needed.

If your love goes towards trying your hand at the more unusual fruit-bearing plants and vines, try an Italian Everbearing Fig, or a Himrod Grape. The Everbearing Fig is a prolific fruit-bearer, and given a bit of protection in the winter here on the shore, it will produce large, fleshy fruit through to September. The Himrod Grape can grace an arbor or back of a garage in a few years with arching canes and light, plump green fruit.

Vitus Labrusca! I love saying that out loud!! That’s the Himrod’s Latin name-- and it sounds as sensuous and hearty as the fruit itself. It seems that back in the day, everyone had a grapevine in their yard. I marvel when I take the train to NY City, where, looking out the window I pass the humble backyards in Elizabeth and Newark. There isn’t a backyard that I pass that doesn’t have a huge arbor with a mature grapevine covering it. The yards are tiny, but they have a lot of heart— a connection to a little bit of the old country in this nation of immigrants. My grandfather in Long Branch, (he was from Romania) along with his Italian neighbors, planted big dreams and farms in little backyards. No matter how small the space, they HAD to have the fruit tree and the tomato plants!

I guess there’s nothing wrong with having a little dream. Even if it’s only a little garden in back of the railroad tracks.