A rare winter strawberry

Imagine my surprise when I found this lone strawberry growing in my winter garden. In the winter, I always enjoy watching much of the foliage of the strawberries turn to a beautiful shade of cherry red. But I've never had a plant produce fruit at the same time as the leaves are turning for winter. It provided a rare opportunity to get a shot of the red fruit and the red leaves together--photographic serendipity indeed.

Our small pond makes for sweet strawberries

There are certain nooks in my garden where strawberries grow very well. All those nooks are located very close to the pond so it must have something to do with the environmental influence of the water. I've tried to grow the strawberries only 20 feet away with horrible results. But when I've transplanted the plants that are struggling to a place by the pond, they flourish. It's amazing how much the proximity to the water affects them.

The interesting thing is our pond isn't large. It's not very deep either--less than 3 feet in the deepest spots. Our petite lot is only 50 feet wide so nothing can really be that large. The pond maybe holds 1200 gallons but I think that's a generous estimate.

It is fascinating to me that something so relatively diminutive like our pond has such a profound influence on the growth of something else like the strawberry plants and their fruit.

I think people are like our pond. In the overall view of the world and universe, each person is so small. But I've seen someone that is relatively diminutive have a profound effect on those within their sphere of influence. And then those that have benefitted from that seemingly small influence go on to produce families, homes, creations and spheres of influence that are sweet and wonderful fruits, just like my strawberries.

And like the pond, those influential individuals do what they do usually without any knowledge of the sweetness they brought into being. They just live their lives, sharing their essence. How fortunate we are to have them in our lives.

Simply strawberries

Sometimes there's nothing more elegant,
yet so wonderfully simple,
than freshly picked strawberries from the garden.

Preserves

Some things are just meant to be preserved
Luscious juicy berries picked right out of the garden

Recipes on yellowed paper written in fountain pen
Memories of the women who wrote them

Winter strawberry leaves

This shot is SOOC (straight out of the camera) except for the crop

One of the things I love about strawberry plants is when the leaves turn red because of the frosty nights. This year, mine are bi-colored with red AND green leaves together!

My strawberry plants grow in pots by the edge of the pond where the recirculating water pours back into the pond over small piles of rocks. I've tried the strawberry plants in various locations in the garden and this is the only one they really like. I guess they like the somewhat moist air that rises from the pond in that full-sun location.

I think our new deck is providing more shelter for the plants than in years past because the frost hasn't crisped the strawberry leaves. An extra bonus, I'd say.

Life's Little Pleasures From the Garden

Yesterday evening, I ventured out into the garden before the sun went down to do "garden patrol". "Garden patrol" consists of watering things that aren't on the drip-mist irrigation system yet; checking on produce to see if it's ready for harvesting; check the water levels in the pond and other water feature; say hi to the garden kitties, Oreo and Mooch, and give them some canned food; and just check on the latest developments in the garden.

This time of year during my garden patrol, I often find produce that is at the peak of perfection and ready to be picked. Yesterday was no exception. I retrieved my wide and low harvest basket with a big handle to sling over my arm. I went in the back garden to harvest the luscious strawberries and plums as well as some pole beans and spinach leaves. It made for such a lovely arrangement in the basket that I had to photograph them before I dismantled it.

Once inside, the spinach and pole beans go into containers in the fridge with others that have been harvested over the past couple of days. With small harvests, this is the best way to get a good serving together.

The strawberries were rinsed and went straight into a cup to be delivered to Hubby who was working hard in his home office. I have been eating the strawberries straight off the bushes out in the garden for a month or so now. I thought it was only fair that he should get the next few batches.

The plums went into the fridge too so I could cool them off since they were quite warm after being out in the heat all day. Later in the evening I had cold juicy plums for dessert after our late dinner. Yum!

This is why I love gardening so much. These little treasures make it all worth it.

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