" We have our first dish of peas. The aisles of pea plants grow tall and the green walls are full of bulging pods ...... Compared with the gathering of strawberries, pea picking is is intricate, but undramatic. There is no sudden grow of crimson , no soft warmth of fruit. It is a world of shapes, pea being undistinguishable from leaf only by virtue of its bulk and form. We pick by feeling rather than by sight. The pea plant is a gentle green, deep and soft against the pale colour of the lettuces that shelter from the sun in the shade of the pea rows. Our baskets full of hard, rattling pods, we pick lettuces for salad. It is good to feed oneself from one's own earth"
Words from 'Four Hedges A Gardener's Chronicle' by Clare Leighton.
Illustration by Sara Midda from "In and Out Of The Garden".
The passage conjures up the scene perfectly. I remember going pea picking in my teens, we were paid by the sackful but I think I ate more than I weighed in, it's so hard to resist peas straight from the pod.
ReplyDeleteI have that little book by Sara Midda the illustrations are beautiful although sometimes you need a magnifying glass to see how lovely they are
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful print! No peas here, however; I think I planted them too late, and now it's so hot I don't think they'll amount to much.
ReplyDeleteYou always have the perfect poem/prose and picture for the first of the Month, Anna!
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