After growing up with a big backyard garden in the farming area of upstate New York, we learned to appreciate the ripening of vegetables and fruits in season and anxiously awaited their due dates like babies coming into the world. Their arrival signified wonderful dishes of aromas and flavors that I can still taste in my mouth today, some 30 years later.
Eating seasonal produce is the natural way to eat and is how it was meant to be. We weren't suppose to have melon in winter and apples in the spring. Mother Nature has her own timing and growth cycles that are varied by the movement of the Earth, the stars and the atmosphere creating weather patterns that fuel the growing of our foods. Some of us heed the rules of nature and respect them, follow them with religion and find ways to support the system that has survived many cultures and societies. Some of us don't listen and continue to fight the natural path, changing what is healthy practices and foods into poisons that cause unhealthy bodies, diseases and death. This is a highly debated subject but the end result is the same. Growing and preparing healthy natural foods is essential to our lives and our health and longevity. That being said - we need to go back to the garden and begin again in our society if we are to last on this Earth and if our wildlife is to remain a part of our culture - we need to respect it and protect it, whether we eat meat or not - they need to be considered to be part of our society to exist with balance and a purpose.
This has been one of my big thoughts for the way I live and plan my garden and foods. My bunnies provide the best in fertilizers but I am plagued with no sun and wet weather in PG so I'm looking for the sunny patch in Carmel Valley now and ready to rent out the beach house for vacationers to walk to Pebble Beach golf or down to the Aquarium now while I watch the garden grow in the rich sun of the valley. Still looking for the right spot but when I do, I'll be sure to balance my animals with my plants so that both benefit from the bounty of Mother Earth.
By the way check out edible Monterey Bay that has great articles on artisan foods and growers in our area.
