Gifts

One of the things I took away from reading Braiding Sweetgrass was the idea that the natural world is full of gifts. Instead of something that we just take, it changes the relationship to see us living with other living beings who share their gifts with us. As things ripen outside our house, this idea becomes more and more tangible. 

H. has been a mulberry picking machine.She loves to help and having defined tasks is perfect for her, so picking mulberries is right in her sweet spot. It's wonderful because the picking is often the one thing I don't have time to do. I have mentioned that we love mulberry syrup, and at the rate we're going, we will have syrup to enjoy when the snow is on the ground and mulberries are a long away dream. Today I canned 4+ more pints. (The plus is for what ended up in the refrigerator because I didn't have enough to make a full pint and thus couldn't process it. The jar in the refrigerator was very close to full, so it was actually close to five pints.) H. has been so industrious that I have the same amount of berries on the counter waiting to be cooked so we can put them through the jelly strainer. And still there are unripe mulberries on the trees. 

We didn't plant these mulberries. Actually, I'm pretty sure that no one planted these mulberries, they just didn't get pulled out before they became actual trees. Yet, they do give us gifts. Mulberries are not awesome eating. (I find them bland.) But, add some sugar and cook them a bit, and they have a rather sweet, honey taste. The birds also enjoy them very much. I took a look at the baby ducks this evening and discovered they have little purple stains all over their white feather from eating the mulberries on the ground.

I also discovered today that the black raspberries are ripening. This is another vaguely wild plant we have growing in abundance here. Unlike the mulberries, the black raspberries are very tasty to eat out of hand. There have been seasons where children have gone out and completely denuded the vines so that there were no berries left for jam. I got a jump on them today and picked the ripe ones. If I go out early, I should beat the late sleepers and hopefully end up with enough to make a decent amount of jam. More gifts.

The very large and very, very old cherry tree around which the black raspberries grow has also been giving gifts. The first couple of years we weren't sure it was going to survive because the Japanese beetles had eaten so many of its leaves. I think the chickens have helped significantly with the beetles over time because we barely see them anymore. But the old cherry tree was still struggling and we figured that its days were definitely numbered. While they may still be numbered, it has recovered enough that it has cherries ripening on it for the first time since we've lived here. Now, there are not a lot of cherries; when they are ripened everyone may get just a couple. But it made me so happy to see them on the old tree, as if it were sending us a signal to not count it out yet.

We are keeping an eye on the apple trees which have apples growing. R. is particularly eager to go pick apples. The poor peach trees, a couple more extremely old fruit trees that we are never sure will come back in the spring, also have a lot of peaches growing. So many we worry about the ability of the old branches to hold them up. We'll appreciate the peaches for as long as they can share them. 

To have found a property with so many fruit plants already here is wonderful. I would love to add a few more. Maybe some plum or some more cherries. The trouble is, now is when I think about it and the middle of summer is not really the optimal time to plant trees. Maybe I can remember in the fall.

We are all surrounded by gifts as we go about our lives. How much richer we would all be if we kept our eyes open for the gifts we have around us and appreciate their presence rather than focusing on what we do not have.