Edible Gardening

A friend's recent announcement of a move to sunny CA has me ready to stow away in her moving van so that I can enjoy the lovely weather and the joys of year-round fresh produce grown at home or from the many local farmer's markets.

Since I would miss my kiddos too much and they probably won't have room for me in their soon to be teenier California home I'll just have to start thinking about what I am going to plant this year in my ever-growing gardening experiment. Incorporating edibles into a more traditional landscape is a beautiful and practical way of increasing access to fresh produce, especially leafy greens that I can never get enough. Little A could live off of strawberries so I'll have to make a point of supplementing our tiny patch throughout the yard if the creatures don't eat them first.

Looking at these images has me wondering if anything could be more delicious and appealing than eating produce within minutes of picking it. I am enjoying fond memories of A insisting that there were more ripe strawberries somewhere and of the four of us sitting under our pear tree, contentedly eating just-picked pears. (My kids swore they hated pears until they had them like this, and now they are addicted.)

images via Garden Design July '08