Several years ago, we lived in a home with a huge back yard. Greg built a garden box and filled it with everything from pumpkins and kale to beans and tomatoes. The centerpiece of that yard was a prolific pear tree. Throughout the late summer we enjoyed the bounty, using those pears for everything from a Pear, Onion and Gorgonzola Pizza and Quesadillas with Pears and Prosciutto to the kids’ favorite – Pear Pocket Pies.
We enjoyed our backyard bounty daily, but eventually moved from that home, leaving behind our beloved pear tree. We found ourselves in a home without a yard, without much light, and without much inspiration for creating a container garden.
The town is filled with fruit – a forager’s heaven. So, in the years when we didn’t have a backyard bounty, we foraged the neighborhood for wild blackberries and grabbed the plums off the trees in the spring. In the process, I would gaze longingly into yards around town, and wonder why so many fruit trees were left unattended, with fruit left on the trees. I secretly wanted to become a Night Gleaner, and sneak into those yards in the middle of the night to pick the fruit.
But I get it, nature calls while our busy lives beckon.
