And we had the distinct pleasure of spending time with Julie's parents, Mr. & Mrs. Smith as well.
Mr. Smith is an accomplished gardener and gave us a tour of his gardens & orchard while imparting to us some of his extensive knowledge of gardening. It was so exciting, and I took 4 pages of notes.
Here is a photo of one of his apple trees. He has grafted many different species of apple onto this one tree and it bears ... are you sitting down ... 13 different types of apples! Isn't that amazing? I can hardly wait to return in the fall for a peek at that!
He also has a tree that bears peaches, plums and nectarines! He tells us that in springtime the 3 distinctly different blooms attract lots of attention from folks passing by. I can only imagine!
This particular grapevine produced 30 gallons last year.
I so enjoyed listening to this soft spoken man share his passion of growing all things that I forgot to take pictures of some of his plants. He has strawberry plants that were in his mother's garden and are 40-50 years old ... and they're still bearing fruit!
I so admired the teamwork between Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He grows the bounty, and she turns it into delightful meals for her family. It is so simple yet so very beautifully a picture of teamwork within a marriage. I was inspired.
The boys & I were the very fortunate recipients of a loaf of Mrs. Smith's Strawberry Amish Bread. It was soooo good that (I'm a bit ashamed to admit this) it never made it home. We ate the whole thing on the ride home! LOL I didn't even get a photo.
But I did get a bag of starter so I can make my very own on May 16th when the starter will be ready. I'm so glad because the boys told me on the way home, "Mom, we hope we don't hurt your feelings. But this is the best bread we've ever eaten!"
Sounds like I may need to spend another afternoon with the Smiths to get some cooking lessons!
Blessings,
Lea
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15 comments:
Lea, you so the most interesting things and share them so generously on yoour blog, I just love visiting here. If you get that bread recipe, I adore breads too! I know you garden will be of the same quality as your neighbors. Just wait!
Thanks for helping me identify my pollen I guess it is on my blog!
Opps! well, I will dye with it anyway, I have plenty of fabric to fool around with , remember that bedskirt ruffle I got? Yep, I will use a piece of it.
smiles, cyndi/ByLightOfMoon
What beautiful pictures!!! I am so glad you had such a wonderful visit! The strawberry Amish bread sounds wonderful!!!
Lea, I felt a real tug at my heart strings to meet these people and learn everything I can from them. It is so wonderful that you had this opportunity! Maybe you could suggest some type of classes that they could teach???? Like the breadmaking, canning, recipes, gardening tips, etc! What an opportunity it would be to go and learn from these seasoned farmers and homemakers!
And yes! by all means, PLEASE post the recipe for the bread!
Cora
What a wonderful sounding day!!! Hope you have a great weekend!
Lea,
I have a recipe for amish bread so if you need any help just e-mail me or leave a comment on my blog!!I never thought to add fruit to the batter though!That would be soo good!Thanks for sharing with us your day yesterday!That is some amazing stuff about all the different kinds of fruits on one tree!!I would love to have fresh produce in our back yard!I love that cute story you told about the farmer and his wife and how they work together!You have such a great outlook on life Lea!!Blessings!!
Very interesting. I want to move back down south so bad so I can try and grow grapes and veggies/fruits. I bet he was very interesting to listen to and notes, oh yes! Amish bread, sounds very good.
What a wonderful day and opportunity Lea!!! You are so blessed, I just 'love' reading about your life. I'm so happy for you. :)
Hi Lea!
Oh this was a fun visit...I enjoyed your pictures and the story of The Smith's. How nice of them to share with you garden secrets. That Strawberry Bread sound delicious! I would love the recipe also. :-)
Hugs,
Kimmie
Hi Lea!
What a great day! I love your photos, and that your bread never made it home! LOL
YumO.... you must share the recipe okay?!!
Hugs Lea
Oh, Lea!
What a very blessed day you had!
Thank you for taking us along....
It's so inspiring to hear that there are still people like this, in the world. We should hear more of them. Will you, please, continue to share your visits with us? I feel so uplifted after reading this post! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Many Blessings,
Julie
Hi Lea, very nice outing, stop by, there's something for you. Deb
Sounds like you had a lovely day. Our apple trees are loaded with bloom this year here in WV. I am hoping that any last frosts won't bother them any.
The strawberry bread has got my mouth watering. I was looking in one of my cookbooks the other day and it had a recipe for strawberry bread. I will have to try that when we get some strawberries- I peeked at my strawberry plants this morning and they have some bloom on them too.
Caroline
Lea..I felt like I was there with you on your visit..and I wish I could find someone like that to share with.
That is how Billys Sweet Aunt Willie was...even after she lost her eye sight. It always made my day to chat with her even though it was only on the phone. She lived in AL and whenever I had a question about my Flowers or Rose bushes she was always just a phone call away. I sure wish I could still pick up the phone and call her. She always had a posotive attitude even after going blind. She stitched around a cute little pot holder one day and then she took a nap and woke up blind. She gave me that pot holder and it really isn't that special looking to anyone else but it means the world to me.
She passed away last year on May 1st and I will miss her until the day I get to see her again. I know she is saving a place for me that is special.
Your visit will be a treasure that you will always remember :)
Nancy
I'll bet Mr and Mrs Smith are a wealth of information! I love knowing people like that, too, Lea.
I hope for your boys' sake your bread comes out o.k.! LOL
You know what I just realized? Call me crazy...but...LOL in that very first pic of this post...you and Julie could pass as sisters! :o)
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