mrs. quinn's garden
Raspberries, with their prickly stems, sprout like weeds in the backyard. They were planted years ago by Mrs. Quinn, who lived in our house before we did.
I sometimes think about her life, and how different it was than mine. Her husband was a professor of medieval history at the university and Mrs. Quinn stayed home, gardening and raising their five sons. Her daylillies, her hosta and the masses of peonies she planted come up every spring. She had a grape arbor too, but, not knowing what it was, we took it down when we first moved in.
Of all Mrs. Quinn's plantings, I'm most grateful for the raspberries. The birds and the neighbors' children eat some, but there are usually more than enough to go round. Though one year, mysteriously, the stalks grew tall and green, but didn't yield a single berry.
Last fall, we cut the raspberries down to the ground. Now, the little green leaves are just starting to emerge. Maybe this will be the year that I learn to make raspberry jam.
14 comments:
Mmm...
I'm such a city girl that for the first two years we lived in this house I did not even notice that there were raspberry bushes.
Yum. My mother has had a mess of raspberries for years - I used them to fill the layers of my wedding cake. Alas, an overly ambitious gardener ripped them all out this year - he thought he was cleaning up her vegetable garden. They'll come back, but it'll take awhile.
I planted blackberries last year. I hope someone with be making blackberry jam from them in a couple of decades.
I had practically written an entire post here in your comments, so I've decided to move it to my own blog. Thanks for the inspiration.
We have wild blackberries that grow in the alley behind our house. My boys love it when they are ripe enough to pick. I think berries are one of the most fun things to have growing in your own garden, because the joy is so immediate. You can eat them right away and they are just so yummy!
The wild part of our yard has two different kinds of raspberries, and I go out with a long-handled colander and a long-sleeved shirt a couple times a week when they're in season. Peaches are usually good then, so we have raspberry-peach pie.
The brambles are so thick, that even if we get five or six pies this way, the birds get most of the crop.
Good luck with the jam! I always think this will be the year I can tomato sauce. Should we make a pact?
my grandmother had raspberry bushes in the backyard when i was a kid. i still remember the scratchy feel of them...and raspberry jam is still my favourite.
our house came with a gorgeous perimeter garden which i've let entirely go to weed, to my great shame. i have trouble even keeping the houseplants together, and never seem to get out there to dig at the damn thing enough.
maybe tomorrow.
I think of the previous owners of my house too. This is the first spring we've had here, and all kinds of things are coming up--all over the place! No raspberries, but I do feel a little inspired to plant some stuff. I guess I want to try and change it and make it a little mine?
Mmmmmmmm...raspberry jam!
I use Sure Jell for my jam recipes, the low sugar version. And, I promise, you wont' miss the sugar.
Nicole ooooh...could you send me the recipe(s)? Most sweet foods don't really appeal to me, so a low sugar recipe sounds absolutely perfect.
I made all kinds of jam last summer. I will see if I can find the recipe I used for raspberry jam and send it your way.
It really was easy!
Thanks, My Reality.
I hope you'll post a picture when they have fruit.
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