April 10, 2011

Resistance is Futile!!!

There is nothing quite like two buckets brimming with gloriously plump local lilac to blur the line between "want" and "need".

We'll get back to the personal implications of that reality momentarily. But first, let me tell you a tiny bit about Brad of Wild Boar Farms.

Brad knows tomatoes. Loves tomatoes. Appears to eat, sleep, and breathe tomatoes, to the fullest, 10 months of the year. Unfortunately, said tomatoes only generate income for a portion of those 10 months. So to support his tomato habit through the lean Spring, Brad started dealing in lilacs (which he also appears to love). For some years, he "chased the lilac trail" with strategically placed growing grounds all the way up to Lake Tahoe. Apparently that was less romantic than it sounds, so now he roams closer to home, with enough varieties at different elevations and micro regions to extend his season over a few months. Which gets him into tomato time.

I hope to introduce Brad, his farm, and new Napa nursery at greater length in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, back to those two brimming buckets. Even though I had already purchased "enough" nice double dark lilac from Stockton (seen dwarfed in the background, below) to fill my orders, I couldn't resist buying just about everything Brad, fearing rain, had harvested from one of his small lilac patches in Napa the evening before our first meeting.

Don't worry, it went to good use.




9 comments:

  1. Have you seen Jane's post? - so sweet the pair of you simultaneously going doo-lally over lilac! Don't blame you, they look blissful. Want to see what you do with them, and maybe they might make a card I could buy??

    We have been having Californian weather here this weekend and enjoyed every second!

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  2. 'Tis the season! Still quite the coincidence though : ). I see Jane has access to peonies, though. Drool.

    Yay for warm weather! I hear you are saving up for a US trip??? Will this include a touch down out West???

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  3. whoa! stunning. not surprised you are going nuts for them...

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  4. Right? I thought lilac was one of the things I would have to give up, moving back here to California (which is usually not considered a really great climate for frost-loving flowers like peonies and lilac).

    But apparently I can have my cake and eat it, too : ). I'm pretty thrilled to have found such a knowledgeable and attentive grower nearby!

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  5. Jaime, kinda half a pipedream, half a real hope we might achieve it in the next few years as a last family holiday whilst our eldest still lives at home (tho' i'm sure we'll have other holidays together in the future!). We have really good English friends who have relocated to Hollywood, so we would head out to Cal-i-forn-i-A! Napa calls, might just rock up at your market stall one summer saturday;) !! In all seriousness, if we can scrape together the schekels next year or the year after, I will be emailing you! Would love to see Jane in Arlington too, I wonder if my family will tolerate my blogfriend tour!!?

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  6. Although I do have conquer my terror of being swallowed by the San Andreas fault, seriously, ever since watching Superman as a kid, i have had nightmares about it!! xx

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  7. This is the best post ever. Buckets of lilacs, beautiful pictures of said lilac, the news the Belinda and family might come to visit and my new love Lotte and Bloom appearing magically in your comments.

    Have you seen her new delivery vehicle? I am green with envy, as green as my new little rose.

    xo jane

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  8. EEEEee, ditto to Jane! It would be amaaaazing to meet Belinda and her clan. Maybe we should set up "Send Wild Acre to US" PayPal buttons on out blogs??

    And yes, Lotte and Bloom's delivery vehicle is pretty drool-inducing. Also inspiring. Maybe someday I will be able to secure a tan and white 1965 VW bus for my wedding deliveries. With solar panels on it, while I'm dreaming.

    Your green little rose is quite adorable. I'm looking forward to hearing how it opens.

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  9. oh good lord! You are sooo lucky. please don't leave us hanging. More Lilac photos!

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