The Backyard Garden

Sixteen Gifts

They came for the peppers, but stayed for the pumpkin.

  • Banana Pepper
  • Tomato
  • Carolina Reaper
  • Tres Verdes
  • חַלָּה
  • Watermelon
  • Rose Hip Champagne Jelly
  • Persimmon Butter
  • Butter
  • Vinaigrette Bénédictine
  • Basil
  • Zucchini
  • Banana
  • Wild Ozark Land Crab
  • Pumpkin
  • Rufus

What happened

We're trick-or-treating, of course. The treats that we hand over are true gifts every time. But there must be some mischief, after all. Our trick is that the gifts drift — from the backyard, to the kitchen, to the plausible, to the plainly impossible — and the cards never once concede that anything has changed.

Sat Sep 19 Banana Pepper The simplest, friendliest, and happiest pepper.
Sun Sep 20 Tomato Never refrigerated, and always heirloom.
Tue Sep 22 Carolina Reaper The card contains a warning. Hot enough that the jalapeño is a rounding error.
Tue Sep 29 Tres Verdes Three green peppers and a sliver of Reaper in the jar.
Wed Sep 30 חַלָּה Braided by hand, great with honey, and makes excellent French Toast.
Fri Oct 2 Watermelon Picked on a hollow thump. Sandy soil is their friend.
Mon Oct 5 Rose Hip Champagne Jelly Strained three times, and always sassy.
Wed Oct 7 Persimmon Butter Gathered off the ground, milled, and cooked down slow.
Mon Oct 12 Butter Churned by hand from simple sweet cream.
Sat Oct 17 Vinaigrette Bénédictine Shaken cold and never cooked; enough to get lettuce drunk, but not you.
Fri Oct 23 Basil They grow amazingly here. Cut the leaves immediately before garnishing.
Sun Oct 25 Zucchini The little ones are sweeter and firmer than the giants.
Tue Oct 27 Banana We have the trees, but yes, we have no bananas.
Thu Oct 29 Wild Ozark Land Crab A live crustacean out of a Missouri creek bank. There is no such animal.
Sat Oct 31 Pumpkin What would a small gourd even be without googly eyes?
Sun Nov 1 Rufus A live frog in a gift bag, for one favourite neighbour, the morning after everybody else's season ended.