Life is full of simple pleasures.
For rural folk and those with the desire for fresh produce, a few such pleasures are the first tomato and first feed of sweet corn.
Schedules are busy so it becomes a little more difficult to make such an event a full family affair.
But the first beefsteak tomato last week and corn this week were awesome.
By chance while cutting grass we spotted that beautiful red jewel tucked underneath dense foliage like we have never seen in the past.
Everything else remains green and unhappily it seems the blight has settled in with leaves falling off. The next few days will tell the tale whether the remaining fruit ripens.
Although we had been keeping an eye on the rows of sweet corn, it wasn’t until a raccoon had grabbed a cob and left the tall stalk on the ground that we knew it was ready. Our experience at least, has been corn is ready when the raccoons come calling. They seem to know when it is perfect.
Along with a steady stream of appointments and sports, time will need to be set aside for the harvest so farm-grown sweet corn can be bagged for the freezer.
It is one of those family events where one person picks it, someone boils it, another cuts it and the next hand prepares it for the freezer. In the dead of winter or on special holidays the farm corn comes out as a reminder of how fortunate we are to live where we do.
Fresh Ontario produce can be found at roadside stands, at select grocers who source local produce and numerous farmers’ markets in the area.
Sweet and fresh from the garden is a treat worth experiencing.
