Grow It In Maine

August fruits

Thu, 08/27/2015 - 2:15pm

Plant growth has a pattern. A seed sprouts, then turns into a plantlet with stems, leaves and buds. Flowers follow, for our delight. In turn, fruits come from flowers left uncut. In the pattern (often interrupted by human action) seeds develop within those fruits. Then the cycle continues, according to the timetable of each individual plant.

That’s the general pattern. Usually, by season: in spring, a gardener plants seedlings of flowers or vegetables. As the days warm, blossoms appear, bringing us the wonder of color, scent and beauty. For edibles, there’s the promise of crisp salads, new peas and rhubarb.

In summer, other plants respond to the warmth, sunlight and rain. Vines begin to yield cucumbers, squash and beans.

Here’s August. Tomatoes! Sunflowers! Even new flowers, according to their varieties, come into later bloom.

I look out on an American cranberry bush (really, a Viburnum). Earlier, it had been covered with flat, white flowers. Now it looks rusty, but close to, one sees that ripening berries stud the large bush. Those red berries may be made into a delicious jelly; unless you’re smell-deaf (anosmic is the word) consider that the cooking cranberries smell rather skunk-like. “Real” cranberries ripen in the fall. They come from another plant family.

Blueberries are an August fruit, as are continuing raspberries and blackberries. Early apples stud wayside trees; Maine’s apple season is still a few weeks away.

“Seaside” roses have been blooming since spring. Those shrubs aren’t native; years ago, they were brought from China or Japan and loved our shores so much that they’ve happily spread.

Their fragrant red blossoms have given way to plump, scarlet fruits, known as rose hips or heps. These may be harvested and used in jellies or juice — but you’ll find the processes in old or local cookbooks.

Native elderberries make a nice jelly and elsewhere, find recipes for elderberry pie. Those trusses of berries are black. There are also red-berried bushes, but those fruits are not edible.

This should be a springboard for you: why not go on a berry-ramble to spot how many kinds of fruits grow in our wild spaces?