Neighbors, friends and pomegranates

Fresh homemade bread and oranges right off the tree!

Recently, I drove through a cold January rain to visit a dear friend in Houston that I had not seen in quite a while. Veta was my next door neighbor when I was growing up, and I have always thought of her as my second mother.  She and her husband, Rob, were just starting their family when they moved into our neighborhood in 1957, and my youngest brother, David, and I  were completely fascinated by our new neighbors!

You see, Veta is Italian, second generation from Sicily, and that meant that there were all sorts of relatives and get-togethers going on at the house next door.  David and I, brimming with curiosity, would peek through the slats of the redwood fence that separated our backyard from theirs, and marvel at all the activity, laughter, food, and people that overflowed from her home.  It appeared that her family and friends celebrated EVERYTHING!  The grass definitely seemed much greener on the other side of our fence.

Not only all of that, but they had a television set (black & white, of course!), a huge refrigerator in the kitchen and a "deep freeze" in the laundry area at the back of the carport, TWO cars (and one was a Nash Rambler station wagon!), AND an aquarium in one of the den walls!  Plus, they were growing strange vegetable in their backyard, like Swiss chard and a very long green squash that they called a "gugutza."  And in the brick planter of the carport was a cute little bush called a "pomegranate."

David and I would often sneak over and watch television through the window on their backdoor.  No sound, of course, but we could figure out what was happening on the "Shirley Temple Show" or the "Walt Disney Show" well enough for us.  When we were spotted by someone in the house, we were always invited in and a phone call made to our house (on a party line, of course!) to let my parents know where we were.  My grandparents in Mississippi had a television, too, and to us it was pure magic!

We were neighbors for almost ten years, and as I grew up, Veta would take me here and there with her, let me babysit with her four children, and welcome me with an open heart and arms whenever I needed to escape my own home, no questions asked.

She is 20 years my senior, but we have always had a very special friendship and connection, even though we have rarely visited in the past 40 something years.  It is amazing how friends can just pick up where they left off, as if no time has passed at all.  And that is exactly what happened that recent Saturday morning, from the moment I rang her doorbell, to the moment I made myself get back into my car for the return trip to HeartSong Farm!  

My second mother and dear friend, Veta, in mid-sentence!

I arrived a tad bit before one o'clock in the the afternoon and greeted with a wonderful welcoming hug (ahhhh!), and then two more!  Then we began to talk.  And we talked non-stop for twelve hours!!!!  In between, we sat down for some of her freshly baked bread (she let me have the end slice!) and some homemade jams and jellies.  We talked while she made us meatballs and spaghetti, roasted eggplant, and a berry cobbler for dinner and I sat on a stool at the counter.  Kitchens are wonderful places to share and visit.  Don't you agree?!

We finally crashed just before 2 am Sunday morning, then got up and started talking again at 8 am until I finally had to drag myself away at noon in order to get home to wash the weekly clothes and rest up for the work week ahead.

As is her way, Veta had packed me a "goody bag" to take home. Inside was a loaf of that freshly baked bread, a plastic bag full of pecan pieces from her neighbor's yard, some of the leftover spaghetti and meatballs, a jar of homemade chicken chili, jasmine teabags, a  pound of ground meat, and two rib eye steaks!  And a bag full of oranges from the tree in her backyard.  Wow!

Rain was dripping off the roof, but I just had to get a photo of the orange
tree in Veta's back yard!  She has gotten over 200 oranges already this year!

When I told her thanks and what a surprise it was, she said:  "I just did what I would do for one of my children."  Wow, again! I am so blessed with this wonderful friendship.

During the week prior to my visit with Veta, I received an interesting package in the mail from a fiber friend that contained a tiny pomegranate and a photo of her grandparents.  There was also a very sweet card asking me if I would please plant the seeds of this pomegranate on HeartSong Farm in memory of her grandmother, Sofia.  My friend had wonderful memories of the pomegranate tree and fruit that had grown in her grandmother's yard.  The house was being sold and there was no way that she could bring the big tree to her house, but she could pass the seeds on to me to plant for her here on HeartSong Farm!  She had recognized one of the aspects of my farm, and I felt such a rush of Joy to have the privilege of doing this for her and the memory of her grandmother.

The pomegranate and a photo of my friend's grandparents.

The seeds are in the process of drying out, and soon I will plant several small pots and wait for some sprouts to appear.  Another reason why this is so special to me is the memory of that small pomegranate bush that grew in that brick planter at the house next door growing up.  I find the timing for the arrival of that package and my trip to visit Veta rather interesting!  

Pomegranates are considered a super food these days, and are quite expensive in the grocery.  But, pomegranates have other uses than food.  For instance, a red dye can be extracted for the pretty flowers, a yellow dye from the fruit's skin, and a black dye from the roots.  You can bet that I will be trying this out on some fibers at some future date!

My research tells me that pomegranates are very east to grow, have lovely flowers, and are well suited to hot, dry conditions, although plenty of water is necessary for larger fruit.  The Spanish brought them to Mexico, California, and Arizona in the 16th century.  My friend's grandparents lived in Laredo, Texas, and were originally from Mexico.  Maybe, just maybe, these seeds came from seeds from a family tree that started out, long ago, in Spain!  Wow!

It will take 3 - 5 years to produce fruit, so I can't wait to get started.  I am also going to be trying my hand at rooting some fig twigs from my two trees this February.  My own grandmother grew figs in her Mississippi back yard, which is one reason I have fig trees on HeartSong Farm.  The bees and the butterflies really love the figs, and I hope they like the pomegranates, too!

Meanwhile, the 50 garlic cloves that I planted in October are doing very well.  Looks like I will have quite a nice harvest come May.

Garlic rows doing quite nicely in the garden!

Remember the leopard frog tadpoles I found this past Fall in one of my wheelbarrows?  Well, they are still alive and are slowly growing even in this cold weather.  I had feared that they would not make it through the freezing temps we have had this Fall and Winter, but apparently they just slow down their metabolisms, and go dormant in the cold water, even under a bit of ice.  After all, they are cold blooded creatures.  Well, duh!  We just always had them in the hot summer time when I was a kid, and I guess I didn't think past that.  Silly me!

A video of my cute little tadpoles!  My first attempt at movie
making with my new camera.  Not sure if I have done it right.

It has been a lot of fun keeping an eye on the tadpoles in their plastic container on the back porch.  I have tried to share some of them with friends and co-workers, but no one except me wants them.  I can't wait for them to become tiny froggies!  I have named them all "George, " so that I can tell them apart.

This week at HeartSong Farm, I am getting ready for the Chix Packin Stix Winter Retreat up in Gainesville, Texas.  My friend, Wanda, and I will be traveling together on Friday, and it is looking to be a lot of fun.  Photos will definitely follow as soon as possible!

I have been hearing the orchard oriole's call this last week, seen flashes of blue in the pastures, and this morning came the drumming of the red-bellied woodpecker in the Bradford pear tree near my bathroom window.  With all the cold and rain and mud the last few weeks, I am beginning to look forward to Springtime here on HeartSong Farm.