Our pomegranate harvest won’t win any beauty contests.  Most of the smallish globes that make the thin tree branches droop down don’t look at all like those available in supermarkets.  No luscious rounds of rouged skin here.  I am not sure what it is, but some blight attacked the trees and left these dark freckles on the skin of all our fruit. But I learned a long time ago that it is not what’s on the outside that counts with pomegranates and people.  I cut the tough skin, submerged the pieces in a bowl of water to break apart the arils inside, and look at the scarlet, glistening, juicy results!

Now comes the reward!  A handful of these seeds drips intense flavor and power packed nutrition!  I love the sweet yet tart pop of juice each tiny aril provides. We like them for snacks, but I will also use them to top salads, make salad dressings, and squeeze some for juice to freeze.

My garden as always teaches me truth – take time to look beyond the exterior. Soon it will be time to harvest the Meyer lemons.  I think their lesson is going to be “don’t give up!” It took a few years for this tree to have more than a few lemons but this year there are too many to count.  Don’t worry, I have a list of “100 things to do with Meyer Lemons!”