First "Fruits" of our Edible Landscape

The first "fruits" of our edible landscape were rhubarb stalks - which is actually a showy ornamental vegetable. These slightly bitter stalks are 'sweet-tart' when dipped in a bit of sugar and nibbled on like a rabbit eats celery. The flavor reminds me of sour patch kids candy, only juicy and much more natural...yum. We've also had a fabulous pie from the rhubarb patch.
Today, I'm making rhubarb bread and a tasty rhubarb sauce which is a great change to the traditional apple sauce with pork chops. And, you make it the same way. Cut the rhubarb into chunks, add sugar and a small amount of water, and simmer over low heat until soft. Many people also add other fruits like strawberries, cranberries and cherries to their sauce. It's really easy and in addition to a tasty sauce with pork, it's a great ice cream topping.

Our strawberry ground cover was covered in blossoms and the plants are becoming heavy with fruit. I've even seen the tell-tale red blush starting to show. It won't be long until we have strawberries to enjoy. Strawberry season is among my favorites. I have wonderful memories of going to strawberry fields with my mom and grandma and picking until our boxes overflowed and then picking just a "couple more" because the perfect berry was just under that leaf. We always had more berries than planned. It didn't matter though. It was a morning of simplicity we could spend together before heading home to make shortcakes, jam and freeze berries to enjoy over the next winter.