Market v Potager - The Season's Bounty

Every day I read other food blogs.  Those lucky cooks are finding mirabelles here, sour cherries there, a lovely box of fresh-picked mushrooms, the first of the butternut squash... I think of how nice it must be: to go to market, see something wonderful, decide what I to do with it and decide whether or not to buy.  I did just that when I lived in Andorra, and I dreamed of having a house with a big enough garden to plant vegetables and lots and lots of herbs.  As 'they' say: Be careful what you wish for.  I have my vegetable garden.  I have a huge herb garden.  I have fruit trees and nut trees.  I have grape vines (both table and wine) and kiwi fruit vines. I have a hell of a lot of work and a life that is totally dictated by nature.
Sunday was a beautiful day, started out foggy but cleared to beautiful skies.  I had a leisurely breakfast, deciding how I should spend the day: the house was in dire need of it's monthly  weekly semi-monthly cleaning but that would be indoor stuff, the potager was in dire need of hoeing but that seemed like hard work, I finally decided on trimming and puttering in the herb garden.   I walked out the door and 2 new things greeted me:  A garden table full of pears (thanks to mon mari's early picking) and the ground covered in peaches from our peche de vigne tree.  These are little, greenish peaches, a little bigger than a golf ball; thick-skinned but very intense peach flavor.  Obviously I had to do something with this overnight bounty.  I grabbed my garden basket and headed to the potager - to think, and see what else awaited me.  I hadn't been down there in 24 hours after all.  My roma tomatoes hadn't been ripening very fast lately but I managed to find a few, enough to make 4 cups of sauce for the freezer's stash.  The American string beans had been producing enough for the entire village, and were still at it, as were the courgette.  That took care of dinner.  The last of the cucumbers (I pulled out the plants - thought they were done producing.  These were hiding in with the melons) would make a nice salad.  Back up to the kitchen to start boiling water - for peeling peaches and tomatoes.  The pears, I'm thinking, will make a nice ginger-pear preserve...once I get to the shop to buy the ginger. 
I was peeling and stoning the peaches, trying to decide what to do with them.  I sliced them and put them in a pot along with some lemon juice (diluted with water).  That morning I had seen a wonderful peach recipe at Anne Cuisine and a  cheesecake on Traveling Food Lady.  Both really needed fresh peaches.  So, I peeled, stoned, sliced and thought.  Then I looked at what I was doing. With just the lemon and 1/4 cup of water the peaches had formed a lovely, thick sauce all by themselves.  No cooking required. No sugar needed. Just pure, intense, peachier than peach, flavor.  I added another few drops of lemon in hopes of keeping the color and popped them into freezer bags, one cup at a time.  I had some for lunch yesterday, with vanilla yogurt.  Dessert for the main course? - my idea of heaven.  I forgot to mention that I also found a ripe melon - finally!  Our own melons are starting!?!  Yippee!  Then, on Monday, I found 9 more.... So I may envy all of those cooks who buy at market and are in control of their destiny....but, I bet they envy me as well....Did I mention the acorn squash are ready?  All 26 of them?

Comments

[Jann Mumford]

I am "sooo" jealous! To think, all you have to do is go outside and you are in your own food market......life doesn't get any better.I have dreams of stepping outside and picking fresh fruit for desserts!What a wonderful story....thanks for sharing.P.S.I hope you will share something about those squash.....

[Mimi]

I agree, I am looking for new squash ideas.

Love the subtle colors of the pears and peaches. They are making me very hungry...

[Riana]

Your garden sounds lovely, I wish that I lived closer to you!!!