“To appreciate the wild and sharp flavors of these October fruits, it is necessary that you be breathing the sharp October or November air. What is sour in the house a bracing walk makes sweet. Some of these apples might be labeled, “To be eaten in the wind.” It takes a savage or wild taste to appreciate a wild fruit. . . The era of theild Apple will soon be past. It is a fruit which will probably become extinct in New England. I fear that he who walks over these fields a century hence will not know the pleasure of knocking off wild apples. Ah, poor soul, there are many pleasures which you will not know! . . . the end of it all will be that we shall be compelled to look for our apples in a barrel.”
Henry David Thoreau
Food always seems to wind its way into my creative writing. I love this quote by Thoreau even though we are months from October I think he speaks of the true appreciation of good local food…and what an image he offers with the line “to be eaten in the wind.” This quote makes me wish October was already here and I could eat a small wild apple in New England.
We just picked our first tomato from a heirloom variety of seed that I bought at Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts last year. It is small and not perfectly round with lovely ridges around the stem. Science has given us perfect round tomatoes with less seeds but little flavor. Thankfully the Shakers thought to save seeds and sell them keeping many of our heirloom varieties alive. For many writers food is poetry so its not a huge jump to write poems or write creatively about your favorite food.
Today, spend some time reading this wonderful article about the Shaker Table from Saveur magazine.
Submit your food haiku to a new anthology.
Read and/or submit some food related poetry and/or essays. (Thanks to Yvonne for this link)
Now get back to work!
Lovingly,
The Writing Nag
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