Whoa! That’s a lot of papayas, was my first thought as we drove up to the house for the first time in almost three months. Even in the approaching dusk, I could tell that there were at least 60 fruit spread among 4 papaya trees.
When you’ve been away for almost three months, you’re grateful for anything left alive in the garden at all, but everywhere I looked, there was something not only alive, but thriving. My sweet potato patch has taken over its corner of the yard, and in the process, swallowed a lawnmower and a wheelbarrow. In addition to the papayas, there are two green clusters of bananas, plumping up on the banana trees, and the grapefruit is bowed down with heavy fruit. There is even about 30 fruit on the three-year-old satsuma tree (a first!). In the garden, there is a melon vine that is still setting fruit, enough basil to stock the freezer with pesto for the winter, and a bounty of eggplants and sweet and hot peppers.
Sweet Potatoes swallowed the lawnmower!
Bounty of hot peppers
There is still a lot of work to do (the weeds had an excellent summer too), but I was pleasantly surprised by the rewards present for a lazy farmer.
Or I should say “laissez farmer,” not only because we are in New Orleans, but also because this garden has been left alone, to just be, with little human intervention, for the past three months.
And, with little effort on my part, my freezer is full of rabbit. There’s two does and a buck left to continue to supply us with meat for the future, but thirteen rabbits ended up butchered a few weeks ago and I am benefiting with the most tender white meat I’ve ever tasted. I browned it in a little duck fat left from my muscovy ducks and the results have been marvelous.
Tarragon Rabbit in the Dutch Oven
Now that September is here, I’m eagerly making plans for the fall garden, blending up pesto and eating papayas. It’s good to get my hands in the dirt again. Laissez farming clearly has its benefits, but it’s time to get back to work.
<img src="https://jordaneshay.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/img_5713.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_5713" title="IMG_5713" width="300" height="225" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-209&qu
Front yard farmer 
![https://jordaneshay.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/img_5713.jpg?w=300"](https://jordaneshay.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/img_5713.jpg?w=300"){kind=link}