Pato's Garden

Our friend Pato is an agronomy professor at the University of Nebraska and travels the world for his research. While away to Indonesia and Italy this summer, he and our friend Caterina gave us permission to raid their amazing backyard garden. Pato's garden is an unassuming patch of land quietly nestled in a small cul de sac in the heart of Lincoln. We did not reap the bounty as often as I had hoped we could, but every time we were there, we were so impressed by the enormous tomatoes hanging heavy on the vine; the yellow zucchini flowers tucked under prickly green branches; the summer squash camouflaged under the shady plant; the squishable grape tomatoes that fell easily into our baskets and tasted so good and fresh right there in the garden; the leafy spinach and lettuces that kept getting bigger and greener as the summer progressed... This garden really put my novice attempt at gardening to shame, but it provided so much inspiration and techniques for my future attempts at backyard farming. Whenever we eat anything from Pato and Caterina's garden, the kids ask if this is from the "master garden"? I am so thankful for the abundance of our earth and for farmers/agronomists like Pato who devote their lives to cultivating the earth and feeding the world...