Bye bye Geoff
I was very excited this year as I managed to get hold of a good source of Salsola or land seaweed. It's in the tumbleweed family and is a strange samphire like vegetable much prized in Japanese cuisine (and Italian for that matter). I only planted it out maybe four weeks ago but it's been quick to bed down and do some serious growing. Although all my sources said to pick it young, it's often hard to decide what young is. Anyhow Joy Larkcom cleared that mystery up - as young as possible it seems. Today I picked a great handful and briskly boiled it for a minute. It tastes very queer. Not unpleasant, but odd raw. Cooked is a whole different experience. It has all that is divine about samphire. That crunchy, nascent taste and then this amazing salty afternote. Quite the best stuff I've tasted in weeks and I say that as someone who stood in the raspberry patch and ate till I was covered in juice. It's my new favourite thing. I'll grow twice as much next year.
<
We have a new family in the garden. Three baby wrens and two angry parents. Poor things, they sited themsevlves under the porch where Jennifer the cat sits all day. Still they're getting on with their parenting despite this omnipresent stare.
It was Geoff last week. I can't start to say how sad I am about this. I know that he is going on to do good things, build fine gardens, create anarchy and laughter and that is something that should be widely spread. But it leaves a great hole here. It has been a year or so of the dream team and of course there will be more chapters to come.
But let it be said here and now that Joe and I will miss you terribly. We went for one final river swim in our best spot yet. It was icy cold, but idyllic. Even the dog gave in and decided to join our funny gang. I'm glad that we didn't say good bye at the garden, but instead in a car park dripping with the Stour. It somehow feels more fitting. Until next time then....
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~42~RS~)
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.
Hi Alys,
If you mean 'Geoff who helped Hazel and I at GOTY 2006', then can I also add my good wishes for whatever he is doing next?
I'd miss him too if I were you...
Complain about this comment
hello trillium
Yes, that very Geoff and I do miss him terribly already. Still the lovely Beth has come back to fill the spot for a while. You know it's going to work out fine when you see some one cartwheeling down the garden.
A
Complain about this comment
Beth sounds great. I can still turn a mean cartwheel, even in my gardening boots (straight legs, straight line and all that), so she sounds like my kind of gardener.
I draw the line at handsprings and backflips now, in the interests of protecting my ageing joints and what little dignity I still have, but I can still do them in my head at will :-)
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS