Day 34

at work earlier this week i was talking to one of the residents about my garden. a lot of them enjoy hearing about it because it reminds them of their own gardening days. somehow i ended up telling this gentleman, Walt, that i was growing ground cherries. i had never heard of ground cherries before reading about them in my Seed Savers catalog, but as soon as i mentioned them he said, "oh yeah, my mom used to grow those. she made really good preserves out of them." that made me very happy. i told him that if i made any ground cherry preserves in the fall i would bring him a jar.

it brings me great pleasure to have in my garden an heirloom fruit that probably most people don't grow anymore, but that brings back good memories for someone from an earlier generation. that's the beauty, and part of the mission, of seed savers and i'm glad to be carrying on the tradition.

(if you've been around me at all since the winter you have heard me mention (or go on and on) Heritage Farm and the Seed Savers Exchange. if you haven't and are at all interested in my gardening inspiration i suggest you request their catalog by going to the link above. it's a treasure.)