Reflections on My 40 Years in Umbria

I would be hard put to say which late spring/summer vegetable in my vegetable garden is the most "valuable". Fresh fava beans to be picked and eaten immediately with local pecorino? Sweet baby peas podded and simmered ever so briefly and eaten with fresh prosciutto? Fresh artichokes, the small Roman round ones, enjoyed alla Giudea, alla Romana, fried or with pasta?

Or would it be chives, baby onions, or fresh, mild garlic, cucumbers...or the queen of the kingdom - tomatoes: cherry, grape, pachino, tondo, cuore di bue?

our record-breaking, HUGE, 710 gr. tomatoes

turned into a summer dinner of bruschette

And how could I not choose the small, light green zucchini with their flowers to use for pasta, for frying or for an omelette...or the wonderful thin green beans.

Among these summer delights I would be unable to choose. But during the winter? While we have an abundance of collards and greens...it is the lettuce which delights me most.

The beauty of lettuce - flower-like in its fragrance, its tenderness and crispness...its flavor. As with all the winter vegetables they ask nothing in return for their bounty. And as with all our home-grown vegetables, the best part is the total lack of any chemicals...and the ability to pick them only as needed and to eat them immediately!

We are so fortunate here with such a long growing cycle...we have had green beans, zucchini, radishes, bell peppers, egg plant and, of course, lettuce, as late as at the end of October and tomatoes on the vines, some years, in December.

We plant 10-15 small lettuce plants every three weeks all year long. This ensures that we always have a few heads at their tender prime. Arugula is quick to sprout from seed and stays young and fresh for about six weeks.

While wonderful fresh vegetables are readily available, NOTHING compares to having our own.