The Grazing Garden

Walking around the garden this morning, I helped myself to a handful of blackberries and a bundle of grapes leaves from our backyard raised growing boxes. The grape leaves will be brined for dolmades. The blackberries never made it into the basket.

By the pond, I pinched oregano blossoms for my salad and some fresh rosemary to cook with Brussel sprouts and pecans later. I gathered a bowl full of plums from the front yard that the “night squirrels” had dropped. These will be washed and eaten over the sink as a mid-day snack or shared with neighbors along with fresh eggs.

Cherry tomatoes and fresh basil tempted me to pop them right into my mouth together but I restrained myself. I will add them to the three Ichiban eggplants sitting on the kitchen counter and create something wonderful for Sunday supper.

By the front door I found Virginia pepper cress, a common weed that adds a wonderful zing to salads. If you like arugula, you’ll love pepper cress. Heck, I don’t like arugula and I still love pepper cress.

In these quiet summer mornings, the garden surprises me with many gifts, but none so bountiful that I feel overwhelmed. Each is a small gift to savor in combination with today’s other gatherings.

Such is the gift of an edible landscape, or what I like to call, a grazing garden. In our modern pursuit of bigger, better, best, I really prefer the manageable offerings of a few things here and there. There is little work involved and it usually lends itself to endless creativity in the kitchen. Rather than a second full-time gardening job, the grazing garden becomes an accidental meal plan, filled with impromptu combinations:

Eggplant sautéed with oregano, basil, tomatoes and pepper cress. Green beans and garlic lightly tossed with fresh oregano and parsley. Grilled plums sprinkled with honey and mint.

Rice flavored with lemon and lime leaves to impart a fresh, citrusy taste.