Our bounty

  The figs have ripened and we've done our best to harvest.  I mentioned they are all high in the tree, so we've resorted to throwing bats at them and long sticks to knocking them down.  The overly ripe (a.k.a. squishy) ones that we didn't catch are splattered beneath the tree.  From what I've read and seen, they are really fragile once ripe so you have to eat them fast or preserve them quickly.  People have told me to stuff them with cheese and wrap them with bacon or prosciutto, which sounds absolutely divine.  However, said people also do not have children and that sounds like a fancy appetizer for a special occasion.  We don't do any 4 course meals around here anymore.  That said, I think I may eat some while they are ripe and do the easiest thing which is freeze the rest for future use.  Chicken Marbella...yuuuummmm!

 

The apricots are about ready too.  Ava seems to like the figs and is certainly enjoying the bounty.

 

  Each morning after taking Hannah to school, we come home and water the garden.  I have to put Ava in the whale pool or tin washing tub to keep her from crawling around.  She basically looks like she's taken a mud bath if I let her crawl around, and I'm not just talking all over her hands and knees, it's all over her mouth and face too!  She doesn't seem to be put off by the taste of dirt at all.  When I am done watering and can watch her, I let her roam around the yard.  One day she was hanging out under the apricot tree and having a little snack while the boys and I were playing tennis.  It was just too cute!

 

 Speaking of our bounty, I found another fruit.  At first glance, it looks like blueberries.

 

But they didn't taste like blueberries and they had bigger seeds.

 After driving myself completely insane scouring online trying to figure out what kind of berries they were, I finally found them.  They are juneberries.  They are a native plant to North America and if you look up pictures of them, they have beautiful white blooms.  After seeing them online, I do remember thinking that this plant had pretty blooms a couple of months ago.

  We put them in pancakes this past weekend and I eat them in my cereal like I would blueberries and I think they are very tasty.

  As I continue to find new fruit, I have lost count on the new running total for our yard.  I'm hesitant to even say a new number because I already have a hunch it might change.  We have some big trees in our backyard that we thought were apricot trees, but the fruit keeps growing and is more round.  Fingers crossed for peaches and plums!

Have a great Tuesday!