Spending time with loved ones is priceless. I don’t often get that chance because many family members live in different countries, making it nearly impossible to see everyone during a short visit.
This visit was different: it was my dad’s 60th birthday, and nearly the whole family gathered. It was wonderful to reconnect with faces I hadn’t seen in years.
I was especially glad to be home in summer, when the garden is overflowing with organic fruit and vegetables. It has been almost ten years since I spent a summer at home—ten years without tasting truly fresh produce. Nothing beats it.
My family grows nearly everything themselves and use no pesticides, so almost all the harvest is organic. I love walking into the garden knowing there’s always a treat waiting: gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, red, white and blackcurrants, apples, cherries, sour cherries, blackberries…
When it comes to vegetables, my first stop is always the peas. I joke that I go to the garden for lunch—just pick what I like and eat as much as I can. For me, it’s an all-you-can-eat restaurant.
This year the zucchinis were enormous. Cucumbers were growing fast beside them, and my mum managed to pickle some. There were beets, carrots, kale, garlic, tomatoes, onions, spring onions, my favorite sweet light-yellow peppers, radishes, potatoes and plenty of herbs.
I enjoyed simply looking at the abundance—this is what I call a true taste of home.
Now I’m back in Spain, thinking about all the garden goodies I left behind. I managed to pack a few items—a huge zucchini, white and blackcurrants, cucumbers, garlic and some peppers. If I’d had more suitcase space, I would have brought almost everything.
Below are some photos that show what real organic produce looks like straight from the garden.
Do you have a garden? If so, what do you grow?