Something given, something grown

John's sister brought over some beautiful Georgia peaches. I resisted the impulse to take more, though she generously offered; deciding that my own tree will be ripe in 3-4 weeks, and I'll have a lot of work to do getting them jammed and stored. I'm trying to be more realistic about both what I can do, and how much we can eat or give away!

Meanwhile, the cherry tomatoes have gotten serious. . . a roasted cherry tomato something is not far off. A few raspberries continue to trickle in, though they won't get serious until about the time the peaches start coming in. Aha. Hence the origin of Peach Melba?

Meanwhile, silly as it sounds, we're getting a little tired of fresh blueberries. I've been harvesting 1-2 quarts every other day for over a week. They are slowing down, but we'll be in fresh blueberries for at least another week.

This reminds me of the days when I had over an acre of raspberries to harvest for my research at Penn State. It's not like a regular harvest. One has to get EVERY ripe berry (impossible, really, but that is the goal), and keep all of the berries from specific treatments separate. Weigh, count, then do something with quarts and quarts of raspberries. Early on the folks hired for harvesting take quite a few, but I would always end up with a ton of raspberries in the refrigerator. At one point, my fruit-loving oldest daughter asked me to stop bringing raspberries home. (!) Back then I had the energy to make All of The Raspberry Things, freeze the rest, and then come back to making Raspberry things when the harvest season was well done. Not so much these days. I am, however, grateful for the yard, the fruit, the sustenance, and the means to store food. A small bit of security in a changing world.
 

 

And the harvest is on. . .

We were in Duluth for a few days, and came back to a surprise and some serious blueberries. The surprise was in the form of these golden raspberries (and 1 red). I just planted the golden, 'Anne', this spring, and we had a talk about avoiding early reproduction. Did they listen? Well, mostly. So it was truly a wonderful surprise to find these goldens  ready to harvest. 

Most of the raspberries (old and new) are just starting to flower, and we won't begin a serious harvest for at least 3 weeks. Still. A small taste of what's to come is welcome.

The blueberries, however, are in full harvest mode. I wandered out in my robe to put some in my breakfast bowl today, and we each had a bowlful with lunch. I'm putting the berries that are accidentally picked a little green (green is red in this case) in the freezer for jam to be made later.

I also harvested a bunch of kale, basil, and mint for salad greens at some lunch or dinner in the near future. The zucchini continues to have problems with an end rot issue. It's been wet, so that may be the problem, but they are seriously crowding the kale and the eggplant, so we may have to concede defeat on them this year. A friend of mine used to say that in any given year, one plant gets a chance to shine. Her raspberries were queen that year. My zucchini, this year, are definitely not going to be queen.

 

Catching up. . maybe. .

 

Here's something my Grand Daughter made on a recent visit to my studio. I was actually trying to keep her busy and engaged when I was setting up for us to Make Something, and I gave her a piece of porcelain clay, and a wooden bowl and told her to press the clay into it, but not to pierce it with her fingers. It was an inspired idea, that has made me think that I want to make some more Very Thin Porcelain bowls. Said Grand Daughter was very specific about what colors she wanted, and how she wanted them, in the finished bowl. She left it to me, since she only had a short visit. A yellow sun with pink petals around it. Say what you want, but she knows what she wants.

It's true that I would have never chose the pink, but it really did turn out well. I left the outside of the bowl unglazed porcelain, which I hope she will like. It feels wonderful on the hands, and we agreed to leave the rough edge around the top. Very fun. And full of potential.

The bunny mug, that she requested be glazed turquoise, was another success, but honestly seems a bit contrived after the free-ness of the Sun Flower bowl. It's a great functional piece, and she chose the rabbit stamp, the dot (end of a dowel) between rabbits and the border. Note also, the "cotton tail" on the base of the handle. All Grand Daughter all the time. Yay.

 

 

I haven't been completely idle in the studio either. I've spent more time trying to create the Perfect Mug. It's just getting silly at this point. But this one is pretty sweet. Glazing continues to be my nemesis, but I like the way this one turned out. And I seem to have, at least temporarily, settled on a handle that seems right to me. Pulled handles are so Everyone-Does-Them, but this cut, smoothed and stacked handle feels very right to me; both in the process of making it, and in the hand after all is said and done. It is graceful, I think, and Grace is Beauty.

 

The hand-built mug to the left is not so much my favorite. I used the dark clay from New Mexico (Marilyn's Bod), glazed with a forest green transparent, with the lip dipped in Emeraude. The Emeraude is usually an iridescent green that drips enticingly down the body of the work, but in this case it flowed sort of a turquoise-y blue, and I'm not crazy about it. Lesson learned, I hope.

 

But not so much. I glazed this rhubarb impressed dish with the same combination. The dish is much better in person than in the image here. It's a full 12" long, and I finally got the stem right, attaching and pulling it so that looks like it belongs to the leaf, but isn't fragile. Love the form, not-so-much the glaze. Lesson learned? I hope so. I really need to take better notes, and then read them.

 

In closing, my first two cherry tomatoes will be harvested tomorrow. This is the beginning of great things for our household. The blueberries are getting into full swing now, the apples, peaches, and 2 plums (fruit, not trees) on their way to ripening, and the raspberries are flowering. Basil is crazy lush (first pesto already made), other herbs in full throat, and the kale is, perhaps unfortunately, unstoppable. Summer in Maine. Hard not to love.