The Mission Gardens has found success with their new food tastings. This last Saturday it was Olive Tasting at the garden: a small event that was not as busy as the Garlic Festival or the Mesquite Flour event. At least it was easier to listen to the demonstrators who told us of several ways to turn olives that are bitter on the tree to food that is tasty in the mouth.
One person–a visitor, not a presenter–mentioned that planting fruiting olive trees is illegal in Pima County, so if you want to preserve olives you will have to obtain them somewhere else. The ban, BTW, has to do with allergies. In Las Vegas fruiting olives are also banned–it isn’t just a Pima County thing.
Three people that know their olives
Cancelling my $5 tree
Before I left the Mission Gardens I scouted out a mature example of a tree I’d ordered through the TEP $5 starter tree program and discovered that, when full grown, it was much much larger than the space available in my garden. So I went to Harlow Gardens and cancelled that order. They were very nice about it and said I could go online and order a different tree if I wanted. I noticed that TEP’s tree page mentions that a refund is available if you change your mind about a tree after seeing it. I may ask for a refund because now I am thinking about an upright Lantana hedge instead of a small tree. For this I need to find Lantana camara. (Not Lantana montevidensis–the low-growing Lantana)
Dia de los Muertos altar is still in place in MSA
On my way to Harlow Gardens I drove through the Mercado district and was surprised to see that the community altar was still there. Because the weather has been pleasant and clear, all the offerings, the ofrendas, on the huge altar were still looking good. Some flowers had faded, but that is to be expected after two weeks.
Okay…here is a photo of the altar by the MSA Annex…
and here are some details of it…
And two more images, with our Lady of Guadalupe presiding over it all. In a yellow dress just below and to the left of Our Lady is the pop-culture figure of the Day of the Dead, La Calavera Catrina. And skulls everywhere.
By Thursday it is supposed to rain–we all hope!! No doubt, the altar will be taken down by then.
It’s interesting that this community altar and the All Souls Procession were both originated by private individuals rather than religious entities.
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