Harvest Galore for ‘24!

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Mathew 9:37-38

By Curt Swarm

We didn’t ask the Lord to send us laborers, but we did put out a message on social media that we had radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, aronia berries and Macintosh apples free for the picking (or some already picked) and, oh boy, did we have takers!

One morning I was out picking tomatoes and there was a farmer mowing the ditches with one of those flex-wing mowers. I had a five-gallon bucket full of tomatoes, so I waved and tipped the bucket to show him. He stopped mowing, came over and admired the tomatoes. Politely, he didn’t say a word about our weedy garden, except, “It’s a good year for everything.” He went away with that bucket full of tomatoes, happy for the surprise he had for his wife. I was pleased to get rid of the tomatoes because I knew I had another bucket-and-a-half of tomatoes to pick, from just a dozen plants. Even the cherry tomatoes are as big as small tomatoes this year. Mercy! (Great for impulse eating.)

A couple of times while I was picking one thing or another, the mailman arrived at the mailbox. Seeing me in the garden (my happy place), he drove out and went away with buckets full of tomatoes and cucumbers. Always take care of the mail-person!

Ginnie is not a “canner.” She has a pressure cooker but is afraid to use it, having heard so many stories of pressure-cooker blow ups. She does something called “water bath canning” and has put away a good stock of apple pie filling for apple pie whenever the mood strikes, and apple butter—my stomach is smiling. I have never been an apple butter fan, Macintosh apples Apple pie filling.

Having eaten only store-bought apple butter, but this homemade version, from our own Mac apples, is out-of-this-world. I can eat it by the spoon full (and do).

Which reminds me. Ginnie made apple cake out of our Macintosh apples. For heaven’s sake! I don’t believe I have ever tasted any kind of cake as good as this. The nuts, brown-sugar topping and moistness make for a taste extravaganza akin to a roller-coaster ride of the taste buds! You hit a peak, the bottom drops out, leaving you salivating for more. I’ve never heard of anyone foundering on apple cake, but I believe I could. And then I would have to be put down — happy.

All of this gardening served us well for Ragbrai (I define “Ragbrai” as a word like the word “laser” came from the acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”). We had two Ragbrai teams staying overnight, and Ginnie cooked both supper and breakfast for them. For supper (in Iowa it’s “supper” not “dinner”), along with Sloppy Joes, Ginnie fixed cucumbers and onions, sliced tomatoes and home-cooked green beans with chunks of bacon and onion. One Ragbrai rider nearly cried at the deliciousness of the green beans. Ginnie beamed, and I bragged that I had picked the blue lake bush beans just the day before. For breakfast, Ginnie had two different casseroles with a side of sliced tomatoes. One rider quipped, “Is this heaven?” In unison, they all chimed, “No, it’s Iowa.”

As I write this on Sept. 17, there’s a full moon — a Red Harvest Super Moon. The harvest is bountiful, but the absence of workers is not a problem when we have friendly visitors who enjoy our produce. From my recliner, as I look out the picture window, I see the field of seed corn next to us being picked. Because of the angle of sunlight, there’s a sadness to fall, but also hope. Hope for the future of all man-and-woman-kind. Be at peace Ginnie’s apple butter with yourself and others.

Contact Curt Swarm at curtswarm@yahoo.com.