Progress

We're slowly making progress here at Allelon Farm, but not the way most people think of progress.

On a disappointed note, we have run out of our home-grown potatoes. We had to buy potatoes a few day ago for the first time in months--and they are not nearly as good as the ones from the garden. I really didn't think there would be a great difference, but there is. Granted, the purchased ones are not the kind I normally like as well, anyway, but they seemed somewhat flat-tasting to me at lunch today, even drenched in butter, salt, and pepper.

But on an exciting note, this past week, we had the honor of visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Smith (a.k.a. the world's best-apple growers! Ref. Dec. 9 post; sorry, I don't know how to link to it and Keith's not around just now to tell me.), where we got 15 or 20 apple tree starters from his root stock. He also gave us a number of muscadine starters, something Keith has wanted for a long time. The smell and taste of muscadines flavor some of Keith's earliest memories. And we got something else of great value while at the Smiths--a few drops from their fountain of knowledge, wisdom, and experience, as well as a great visit with them on an incredibly beautiful day. They are good folks who are willing to share their knowledge; wonderful neighbors, even though they are 40 or 45 minutes away.

By the way, Mr. Smith gave us two kinds of muscadines--one kind is wild, and one kind he got from someone who had originally bought the stock. Not surprisingly, Mr. Smith prefers the taste of the wild muscadines. They don't get quite as large as the others, he said, but the taste is better.

Keith, with help from the boys, has set all the plants out. We are to return to the Smiths in two or three weeks to get grafts for the apple trees. It will be awhile before we see the fruits of our labor, so to speak, but we're excited to be making progress!

Mary Susan