"Looks like you went to the λαϊκή," my husband remarked, when he saw a baking tin full of tomatoes and peppers, four broccoli heads and a large cabbage head. This is our private joke which we crack every time one of us visits my uncles' farm. They have spent most of their lives living in the same village and cultivating their land. They grow nearly everything: potatoes, onions and garlic, zucchini, eggplant and fennel bulb, lettuce, cabbage and even bok choy (I gave them seeds from a friend last year, which they allowed to go to seed and they have replanted them this year).
Whenever I visit them, I hardly ever leave empty handed. Sometimes it's just one pomegranate, other times, it's a bag of cucumbers, and there are also times when it's a crate of pears. Since I am their only living descendant in Hania, I get a lion's share of everything.
When the Chinese leafy vegetables began growing, my uncle phoned me to let me know. "The Kinezoi have arrived," he said.
The brocoli became a warm salad with tahini dressing.
Whenever I pick up this fresh produce from my uncles' farm, I feel that I'm reliving those past times of other family members. At any rate, I know I wouldn't buy much of this even if I didn't have access to it. So if my food is colourful and looks less boring, it's because of a lot of hard work that has gone into growing it to get it on the table.
Summer-planted zucchini, sunbathing in our winter garden - 24°C today, even if it's December!
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How very wonderful that you have those uncles! I hardly remember mine. My father uprooted us and moved us over 1000 miles from our family many, many years ago. I have only traveled back to where I was born twice since. All the relatives I can remember from my childhood are now gone. I don't know my cousins and their lives are very different from mine and my siblings. When I think about this very much I feel rather sad. My parents and my husband's parents are all gone, too. Our children have moved away from their home although they do live in Colorado. So now we are known as "empty nesters." Maybe SOME day we will have some grandchildren, but it doesn't seem as though it will happen soon enough. So....cherish those uncles, Maria!
ReplyDeletewhen we're empty nesters, my husband will be 3-4 years away from retirement, which makes me feel good, since that means there will always be someone who can travel to see the kids wherever they may be, although i will be about a decade away from retirement - i guess that was our luck of the draw, having kids at an older age
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