Ode to the Olmsteds

The Olmsteds were the original owners of the lot we are building on. It was adjacent to "Mannington Estates" in Los Altos. Mr. Olmsted and his mother lived on the property for many years. According to city and county records the original house was built in 1940 and had been there before the subdivision of other property around it. All the land around it had been apricot orchards. There were tons of apricot trees and other varieties on the lot once upon a time, I imagine. Unfortunately there wasn't much that was salvageable in the way of healthy, producing fruit trees by the time we arrived. We have one prolific persimmon tree but sadly, that's all.

Each time I visited the property over the last year I was always pleasantly surprised by the things I found growing on this neglected but clearly very fertile patch of dirt. Freesia popped up between the bricks of the old back patio, a small lilac bush lived in the middle of the yard, and there was a small orange tree with pucker-inducing oranges on it alongside the pedestrian walkway on the south border of the lot. Each fall we were able to harvest an insane quantity of bright orange persimmons. They were the oblong Chinese variety, not the squat little Japanese Fuyu variety (which I actually like better). I think we picked more than two hundred pounds of persimmons in the fall/winter of 2007. They made a beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece on my dining room table.

I am looking forward to growing some beautiful flowering plants and a home kitchen garden. I even have fantasies of a little chicken coop. I've been reading a lot about eating locally and am taking it to heart. It's wonderful to know that our little patch of land has a fertile history. I'm hoping we can cultivate our own gardens and add to the legacy.