Ready To Harvest

Allegra Mack                                                                                                                                       6.1

ELA-Food Memoir

Tuesday, June 7th, 2016

Ready To Harvest

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

  The birds that effortlessly floated from tree to tree sang out in their beautiful voices. My calloused hands gripped the pole that held a rake at the other end. Beads of sweat dripped from my hair, down my face and into the soft, summer soil. I bent down and let the freshly churned ground flow through my fingertips. I looked up, squinting, afraid that the blinding sun would burn my bright eyes.

  “Why'd you stop?” my dad yelled from across the garden.

  “oh , nothing… no reason” I yelled back dismissively.

   It was summer.  A summer that was important to me and my dad... We were building a vegetable garden. We had just gone to Home Depot. I had insisted that we get almost every plant Sprout that we came across. I wanted my first Garden to be my best Garden. Right now we were planting. Straight down and jumped across the aisle full of strawberries and eggplant. I took a few more steps and then hugged  my dad.

   “ What are you planting now?” I asked, in an eager tone.

  “Basil.  Wow! It's hot out here!” he replies, equally as enthusiastic. “ Let's stop for today. I think I'm gonna  melt.”

  We went inside and prepare for tomorrow's gardening project. this continued for many more days, and till finally almost all of the plants were  ready to harvest. We went out to the garden and inhaled the morning air. The garden was alive. Tomato plants spurted from the ground, growing far too big for their enclosed cages. Eggplants popped off their vines and rolled into the narrow walkways between  the beds. Strawberry and raspberry bushes did an elaborate dance with each other, intertwining their arms. I reached down and plucked an unusually large strawberry from the bush and popped it between my lips. The wild, rich flavor busted in my mouth and flood over my tongue. It tasted so much better than the store bought berries, I couldn't believe the difference!

  “Come over here and help me pick the tomatoes”  my dad instructed.

  I climbed over the many rows of plants,  my Satchel flopping on my side. I reach down to pluck a cherry tomato off of its vine…

  “ Ah,ah,ah.Try picking these instead.” he said pointing down at the large funny looking tomato. “ it's a beef heirloom tomato. We're going to be making something special today.”

     I picked as many tomatoes as I could, untill  where are you i couldn't find any more. I pranced over to the wooden door that held in all the succulent crops and opened it. It slowly creaked open. I started to run up the hill in which my house sat neatly on top, but slipped and fell. Three perfectly good tomatoes fell out of my bag. At the fastest speed i could, I gathered up the tomatoes that I dropped. Then I continued trugging up the hill at a much slower pace, for the grass was coated with a layer of morning dew. I opened the screen door and took of my muddy shoes on the porch. As soon as I stepped inside, a layer of blues “morning” music hit me. I sighed for this music reminded me so much of my past. I held it close to my heart.

  “Why’d you run ahead? You left me in the dust.” my dad says with a playful smile plastered on his face.

  “Meh…” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “I felt like it.”

  “Come on into the kitchen. Time to make brunch.” he says, waving his hand.

  We walk into the kitchen and I set the tomatoes on the counter and my dad puts down the basil, also from the garden. He grabs the mozzarella cheese from the fridge. This was bought yesterday from a local nursery that also sold organic, home grown/made food. Last but not least, the vinegar.

  My dad pulls out two dishes from the cabinet. He hands me a knife and says something like, “be careful,” and lets me chop the cheese into long, thin slices. He did the same with the tomatoes.

I grabbed the plate and asked him what to do next. He told me to stack them, so I did.

  First I put a slice of cheese, then a piece of tomato. On top of that, a basil leaf. And then I repeated it. When me and my dad finished it, I was ready to take it to the table, but he stopped me.

  “We have to add the final touch.” he said holding up the bottle of balsamic vinaigrette.

  He drizzled a moderate amount of vinegar on each of them.

  “There, perfect!” He announced, very confidently. We take our plates to the table and immediately began to eat. My first bite is amazing. The creaminess of the cheese mixed with the cheese mixed with the sweetness of the tomato and the earthy taste of the basal. It was an exquisite meal and a memory I will never forget.


Recipe:

• a few slices of mozzerela cheese
• one sliced large tomato
• balsamic vinegrette
• basil leaves

(For the best results, use locally sourced, fresh, natural ingredients)