The first fruits of our family vegetable garden sweepstakes 2012 were enjoyed on Mother's Day after church as we sauteed my daughter-in-law's zucchini with a wee bit of butter, onions and topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
"Nectar of the gods," I pronounced to my unimpressed grandsons who wrinkled their noses as they tried to swallow our "just one taste" bite. Tristan, 5, and Logan, 3, were not buying it. To make matters worse, their daddy, my firstborn, echoed their dislike of our summer treat.
Traipsing out to Gram and Papi's pitiful garden, the boys were much more enthusiastic about pulling carrots out of the ground by their wispy "hair," wiping them off on their shorts and crunching the orange right down to their green stems.
"That's more like it," Tristan approved. They do not have carrots in their garden, so I carefully saved the stubby ends, put them in a damp paper towel, secured in a zipped sandwich bag so they could sprout their own carrots at home.
Tristan and Logan gleefully discovered Papi's new green tomatoes, squealing with each one spotted. They are eagerly waiting for the watermelon blossoms to produce fruit. I don't quite remember how long a watermelon takes to mature, but I'm sure it will be too long for them. The Fourth of July is their target date.
Our beans, baby spinach and peppers are dong well but our two long rows of squash yielded just six, then, five, four, and now, the last sprout is fading fast. Undaunted, I
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assured them I was down but not out and would replant the rows. A few hungry insects have tasted the leaves of our precious produce but a little sevin dust has taken care of the pests. No, the carrots were not touched by the pesticide.
On a bumper-crop note, out of the 20 sunflowers that were planted, we are sporting 18, whose golden blossoms will be peeking over the backyard fence before long. I'm sure our new neighbors will enjoy them.
We'll keep you updated with our collective progress. We are determined to be able to find our suppers in the backyard. No livestock — yet.
Farm-to-table; isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

Candy McMichen is editor of the Alvarado Star and may be reached at alvaradostar@thestargroup.com.