Simply Balisha

Simply Balisha

Thursday, September 25, 2014

The Bittersweet Lady

I have always loved bittersweet. It was often sold in greenhouses and fall markets. I haven't seen it lately though. A woman acquaintance lived in the country and had bittersweet growing everywhere on her property. I made an annual stop at her place to buy it each year. I loved stopping on her country road and walking through the crisp leaves that had fallen on her lawn. Acorns were everywhere and the smell of bonfires was in the air. She always had time to visit and once in a while her husband would join us. This was a full time job for her in the fall. Picking the bittersweet, trimming it into bunches, tying it with jute, and pricing it. She was always home.. in case a customer would stop.....because signs were posted at the beginning and end of her road.

I tried to grow bittersweet. It was a never ending attempt. First I planted one plant....the next year they told me to plant two....male and female....the next year...it was in the wrong location. Isn't this the plant that grows wild almost everywhere in the country? Try as I could....it is something that I never could do. I resorted to buying bunches of it every year.

One year we took a trip to Iowa. I found bittersweet there and told my husband that I was so glad that we found it along the way. I remember him saying, "That's a long way to drive for a bunch of berries."

I have kept bittersweet from year to year. Such care was taken...wrapping it in tissue and hanging it from the rafters in a brown paper bag. Everytime I pull it out the berries fall off. I finally have to toss it, because there are only stems left. 

Now, I live far away from the woman called the Bittersweet Lady. I haven't tried growing it here...yet. So, I'll start my search in this part of the state....to find another place to buy it. I will probably find it at some greenhouse or store....it won't be the same as buying it from the Bittersweet Lady on the country road.
Balisha

9 comments:

  1. I love this post and your memories of the Bittersweet Lady. In the little town I grew up in, there was the Daffodil lady. Her yard was completely covered in jonquils and the smell was intoxicating in spring.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This one has always liked it
    and wanted some also.
    I had forgotten about it
    so thank you for reminding me...

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is so pretty...I'm going to look for some at the Farmer's Market on Saturday! Wish we had a bittersweet lady, though!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been thinking of growing Bittersweet the last couple of years. I do not know whether it will grow here or not. I seem to forget to get vines until fall arrives and then I wish I had some to decorate with. LOL! I loved your story about the bittersweet.Summer has flown and fall is here already and I wonder where it all went to so fast. Have a lovely weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, it's lovely. I'd travel for it too if I didn't have it near me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a great memory you have of the Bittersweet Lady! I love it as well, and have also tried growing it. I have one plant remaining,,,,, but have never, ever, in about 16 years had a single berry. The 2nd and 3rd and 4th year I thought maybe it was like asparagus...... plant it, but you can't enjoy it for a few years. Well, 16 years later, and not a single berry ever. I am sure it will out-live me! I thought as you did... that if it grows out in fields in the wild, it can't be too hard to grow. HA!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It sounds as if your Bittersweet Lady took her job seriously! What a treasure to find bittersweet harvested and available for sale. I'd love to find some myself. As it is, I use faux bittersweet that I found at Pier I years ago. It is rather convincing, but I'd love the real.

    Thank you again for your kind and encouraging comments at Thinking About Home!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love it too! I found some at a herb farm several years ago, but it's on its last legs now. I need to find some more soon :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Has anyone ever had luck growing it? I just think that it likes to be wild and any attempt to tame it will fail. I thought it needed more sun, but it grows in woods as well as in the sun. All I got were very aggressive vines. I don't live in that house anymore, so maybe the house is covered in bittersweet.... :)

    ReplyDelete