A few weeks ago while reading a post by @erikah, I learned that this berry is called currants. Of course, I remember this fruit from my childhood days, but I knew the name of it in another language. Back in those days, it was not my favourite kind of fruit. I guess it was a bit sour for me. Now, I do like them as well as all types of berries. They can be consumed fresh or prepared as jam, as my mother use to make it.
The currant (actually redcurrant) brought fruits this year. There are three shrubs in the garden of my mom, so I helped her to pick them. It is a kind of relaxing task, at least for me it was like a nice and easy activity. One of the neighbours saw me and greeted me as he hasn't seen me for a year. The very next question coming from him was did I miss these "agricultural activities"? :D
It was funny, but I really don't see picking redcurrants as a hard and demanding job. In some twenty minutes the red marbles from the shrubs disappeared. They all finished in the bowls.
This is what the shrub looks like. It is not very tall, around one meter and the fruits are protected by the sun with bigger leaves. I took the photos before we started the harvest, though I am wondering if it would bring one more time fruits this season?
After cleaning them from some leaves and small petioles, the result is one and a half kg of clean berries, ready to consume raw or for some culinary specialities. Almost everything finished as jam! {It was not me making it, but I tried the next day the jam. It was great!}
But redcurrants are not the only fruits in the gardens of my family. They have a few trees of apricots, however, this year was not very good for this fruit. They didn't have a lot of them, and until I came here, almost no apricots left what I could see or taste. Only one, which still needs a few days to ripe. The rest of them is just past now...
The grapes in the garden of my parents-in-law are still not ripe, they will be ready to consume just at the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. The way how they grow is nice, in clusters. We can clearly see that these ones are immature, and most probably I will not be here to have the opportunity to eat a few of them.
In the old house, there are plums, tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, strawberries (the season is already finished), figs, hot peppers... and menta.
Why menta? I am not sure why it is there, but I know that it was not planted. It grew by itself. Many, many years ago, I remember there were a lot of menta plants in that part of the garden, and they were growing almost without control. It smells great when you rub mint leaves with your fingers. Its flower is pale violet, almost white in colour.
The flower of the pumpkin is so nice, similar to the flower of the cucumber. It is yellow, appearing between the huge green leaves of the plant.
The yield of it will be this one pumpkin. Maybe just in the moment, and there will be more, but at the moment I saw just this one. It needs to grow and mature. Once again, a thing I will not see when it will be ready to harvest.
However, tomatoes are another story. They mature in different stages and times, so there are many of those that we do eat right now, though there are still many green tomatoes. Also, we can enjoy different types of tomatoes, I prefer this kind from the first photo.
The taste of it? Extraordinary!
Plums are very popular here. The climate is good for this fruit, that is the most probable reason why so many plum trees are around. Also, the amount of fruit on the trees is awesome. Look at this:
..and this... They grow as individual fruits, but they resemble a cluster because of the number of plums in each branch. When they will be ripe, a homemade fruit brandy will be made of them. This type of very strong brandy is brewed usually in autumn. If you are not used to taking it, just one small glass of it can warm up the mood and body. When you feel that heat in the cheeks, maybe then you should stop!
When we offered it to our Spanish friends and they tried a bit, they thought it was fire in the throat!
Figs are not an autochthonous type of fruit for this climate. Still, it can grow and bring the sweet fruits I so much like. They are riping slowly, I already had the pleasure to eat a few, but the majority of the figs are still green and immature.
Waiting for this one to be ready to come to my plate in a few days :))
Summer is the time when those who have gardens and orchards can recollect the fruits of their labour. It is not just nice to see, but the whole process is a great physical activity that helps stay active during the winter or spring too. Not to forget that the taste of the fruits that come from your own garden can't be compared with those that we buy in the supermarkets. If you are lucky to have some piece of land or a garden and you cultivate some vegetables and fruits, I am sure that you know the difference!
