In the Garden



Goat's head



On our evening walk we stopped by the house of our neighbor Nikos, to drop off a little three bladed pocket knife I’d brought from the States, as a little thank you gift for the mountain of fruits and vegetables he’d given us during our last visit.  Nikos’ house is an impeccabe, two storied stuccoed stone building, that sits behind a high, pale green, wrought iron fence.  Behind the house, imbedded in a hill side, and surrounded by a stack stone fence, is about an acre of land crowded with an amazing assortment fruit trees, vegetables, vines, cooking herbs, flowering plants, and a chicken coop.  The sounds of the bees and chickens, and the color and smells of the vegetables and flowers, all converge to create this idyllic little jewel of order and industry.


Turnips

Nikos is 79 yr. old, not in the best of health, but always working in his garden.  He never gives you a vegetable without a recipe for it, and we were glad to be offered a tour of his garden.  Before we could get away, he had picked us a bag of fresh peaches, he collected about a dozen eggs for us from his hen house, he picked us some leafy green vegetables whose name escapes me, he gave us a bag of his red skinned potatoes, and presented us with a 1.5 liter plastic bottle full of a locally prized blend of olive oils, pressed from two special varieties of olives.  “This is not for cooking, save it for salad only.”




Grapes

Kathy cooked the greens, leeks, and potatoes as per Nikos’ instructions, dressed them with the special olive oil and served them with hard bread from the local baker.  For dessert we had a bowl of Greek yogurt, granola, and fresh peaches from Nikos’ tree, all of it swizzled with a little Samian honey.  We played a quick hand or two of Gin, and off to bed.
 

Flowers

Kiwi fruit




Apricots




Garlic



Figs



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