July Reconsidered
by Cali Doxiadis
For the full text of this article see The Mediterranean Garden No 62, October 2010
The wild thyme (Thymus capitatus) was at its peak.
I returned with two baskets of blossoms,
one for
bunching and drying and one for steeping in alcohol to
make a digestive liqueur.
The garlic was a disappointment. We had been trying out a new area which
proved to have unsuspected drainage problems during our excessively wet
winter and spring, so nearly half our crop was destroyed. What remained
in the hard dry soil, though quite small in size, was firm and unusually sweet.
We braided it and hung it up to dry. When freshly harvested, it’s ideal for
the creamy garlic sauce of Corfu.
In the orchard (following a rather meagre output of loquats and apricots
in June) the two pear trees had a record yield. They used to be wild (you
see them all over Corfu – we have at least fifteen, and the birds love them),
and have been grafted with a Greek heirloom variety called “Kontoula”,
meaning “shorty”.
A sad afternote: All our tomato plants – about 40 – perished within three days
in mid-August, victims to Tuta absoluta, which I understand is wreaking havoc
all over the world.
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