Kim’s grandfather was always particular about the types of trees and plants he wanted in his yard. He had one rule. If he was going to plant it, it had to do something for him. He didn’t have time to mess with flowers and foliage. He wanted trees and bushes that produced food for the table. Grandma Kerby didn’t always pay attention to his insistence, because she sure loved having beautiful flowers around. But if it had all been up to Grandpa, the entire yard would have been an edible garden.

Not a bad goal, I’d say. We definitely love all kinds of plants, inside and outside, flowers and fruit, but I will say that this year, we are really paying attention to our backyard fruit forest. Yesterday morning, I snapped a number of pictures from the various trees we have planted around the yard. There are mangos slowly ripening on our Mango tree, Barbados Cherry flowers just popping open, newly set Navel Oranges, and a Persimmon tree beginning to bloom. Each one makes me more excited than the last.

It is so fulfilling seeing something produced from the work you’ve put in. I think that’s why Grandpa Kerby loved his fruit trees so much. The feeling of self-sufficiency and self-reliance. He and Grandma were teenagers during the Great Depression, and I know that experience shaped how they approached the world. The need to put food on the table and to be able to do it yourself was so important to them, and they carried it all through their lives, passing it down in varying degrees to their children and grandchildren.

I know that I enjoy my backyard orchard every day. I love checking on the trees to see how they’re doing (I’ll admit I may occasionally talk to them a little. They are much better listeners than most people . . .) It’s magical watching them grow and then flower and fruit. Just another part of the grand miracle of nature.