Monday, March 3, 2014

Last and the first

 On my way to the bach in the weekend, I bought blueberries, knowing that they will soon be coming to an end. I stopped at the organic growers and bought one of their last bags of beefsteak tomatoes. Look at them, so full of red richness, almost bursting out of their skins. My courgette plants were all spent, for the garden is suffering from dryness, but I managed to buy a few courgettes also, enough to concoct perhaps the last ratatouille of the season.
I felt sad to know that the ingredients for my favourite summer dish were at an and.
 But then Sylvia, the organic grower said, 'We've just picked the first of the feijoas this morning. Would you like a bag?' Would I?!
 I love feijoas and can devour them very quickly. Despite my reluctance to acknowledge that cooler days must be here, together with the feijoas, I carried the bag to the bach with my mouth watering. (But dear reader, no gratification yet, because they need to ripen a little).
 Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the last of the summer garden on my deck at home. You know how it is: people and plants often have a colourful flare of life as they reach the grand finale.
 As long as I water the pots every day, the flowers are very happy.
 And what's this? the first of the passion fruit. Unprepossessing I know, but so delicious.
 I laughed at the sign at the Health Food shop. Sometimes I feel like a passion fruit on the outside,
so it's comforting to be reminded of the sweetness that lies within. Yes, it's the end of summer now, and life is rich and good.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

My feijoas are not ready. I am looking forward to their maturity in a few more weeks. I like the idea of being like a passionfruit :).

Penny O'Neill said...

Sweeter when wrinkled; now, that will be my new mantra, Juliet, as well as these delicious photos of the last of the season's bounty coming forth. When summer ends here, I feel I just can't get enough of the last fruits of the vine.
I needed to look up feijois, which seem similar to guava, which I have seen in markets here. I will have to try them sometime, knowing they are coming way up here from far away climes, maybe even New Zealand.

Juliet said...

* Gallivanta, you make a wonderful passionfruit! Your blog is full of passion. I tasted my first feijoa yesterday, but they are quite slow to ripen.

* Penny, you say it so well: 'can't get enough of the last fruits of the vine'. Yes, I'm wanting to eek out every bit of goodness now as the days get distinctly cooler.
Thank you Gallivanta and Penny, so good to see you here.

Friko said...

Id we weren’t bloggers we’d never know the differences across the globe. It strikes me as ludicrous that you are sad about the soon to be departing of summer when we are bewailing the endless winter.

Enjoy your late summer harvest.

Juliet said...

Friko, the differences have been very marked this summer/winter. You must be due for a change very soon, because we are certainly feeling the shift. It's pretty cool this morning.

Hotly Spiced said...

I'm looking more and more like a very ripe passionfruit too! I love feijoas. We don't see there here very often at all, in fact, I've only seen them in the last couple of years. They would all be imported. I love them as I grew up on them and like you, I can sit in front of a bowlful and eat the lot. Wish I could reach through the screen and grab some! xx

Juliet said...

Charlie, I seem to have a few ripe passion fruits among my blog friends! Feijoas are a memorable taste, aren't they? What a pity you don't get them in Australia. Thanks for calling.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Juliet - I've never had a feijota - they sound delicious .. I had to go to Wiki to find out more!

Love wrinkly passion fruit .. enjoy these seasonal delights ... I hope ours are growing, fruiting and ripening slowly forward to early spring and summer ...

The floods won't be kind to some farmers though .. with thoughts - Hilary

Juliet said...

Hilary, I thought feijoas might have been grown in S Africa? Must find out where they came from. Your passionfruit would have had plenty of water to start them off. Thanks for visiting.

Terry and Linda said...

You have exotic to me fruit...it would be wonderful to taste them.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://handcraftedbyus.wordpress.com
♬♬♬ Happy Saint Patrick’s Day ♬♬♬

Juliet said...

Linda, wish I could give you a taste! Thanks for visiting.

Vicki Lane said...

I don't know that I've ever seen a passion fruit or a feijoa -- will do some research...

I'm like Friko -- still kinda enjoying the wonder of our different seasons.

And Sweeter When Wrinkled is definitely a mantra worth adopting!!

Juliet said...

Vicki, I wish you could all have a taste of these fruits, which are so much part of our life here. Sweeter when Wrinkled; it seems that many of us can relate to that! Thank you.

Lynley said...

I can smell those Feijoas Juliet.

And I can see our local greengrocer has them in stock...yum!

I love the Organic Feijoa juice you can buy in cafes and restaurants now. When chilled it is wonderfully refreshing.

Our country provides so much bounty to enjoy.

Juliet said...

Lynley, we are so lucky; you are right. The feijoa juice sounds tasty. I must try some. Thank you.

Nadezda said...

Julliet, I love your blog.
I've never eaten a passion fruit but it seems to be delicious. Your summer comes to end and we here in North Europe wait for the snow melting and spring begins.
Have a nice week!

Juliet said...

Nadezda, welcome to the blog! and thank you for taking the trouble to comment. Passion fruit are delicious indeed, especially on ice-cream or in a fruit salad. I imagine you will be very glad to see the spring after a cold winter.