This is not a picture of our family, but rather an update on the walnut tree from Yeshi’s village in Tibet that’s thriving in the fields down the road from our house.
Years ago, not long after I met Yeshi in India, his brother Jamphel took a long road trip out from their village in Tibet to meet up with me in China. Yeshi had printed out dozens of photos of himself and his life in India to give to Jamphel. These were the first images that his family had seen of him since he’d left home twelve years previously. In return, amongst other treasures, Jamphel gave me some walnuts from home for Yeshi. I took them to India on my next visit, and we feasted on the biggest, creamiest walnuts I’ve tasted, but Yeshi kept a couple aside – he had a plan to grow his own tree at some point in the future.
In 2016, Yeshi planted some of the walnuts from Jamphel’s gift bag in the tiny front garden of our house in East Oxford. Maybe he didn’t trust that conditions would really be favourable enough for a tree to take root, but sprout it did and eventually our neighbour Polly suggested that we transplant our Tibetan walnut to the nature reserve at the bottom of the road. It’s been flourishing there ever since.
Apparently it takes about eight years for a walnut tree to start producing nuts: Yeshi says we’ll see fruits soon. In the meantime we pay regular visits to our tree and marvel at how it’s growing. The kids say that one day they’ll take their own children down to the reserve and tell dad’s stories about the walnut trees in his village. Their fruits are rich and earthy, but mostly Yeshi remembers that walnuts made for excellent playthings. They were the best kind of toys because they were edible once the game was done.
When he was really bored, Yeshi says that sometimes he’d spend hours or days smoothing a nut between his fingers until the shell became polished in his hands. Kids hardly ever play like this nowadays, but our children have had plenty of time to stare into space these holidays. We had hoped to visit Tibet, but visas still haven’t come through so the diary has been completely empty. Patience is a virtue, they say. Well, pass us another walnut.
We’re open all the usual hours this week, as follows:
Wednesday – Friday: 5-9.30pm (dinner only)
Saturday and Sunday: 12-3 (lunch) / 5-9.30pm (dinner)
Our menu is on the website now – check it! You can dine with us, take away, or order home delivery through Deliveroo. Don’t forget that we also have freezers fully stocked with meals that you can heat at home, or you might just want to stop by for some of our chilli oil, hot mooli pickle or cookbook?
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Julie and Yeshi
Opening hours this week:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Sat / Sun: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9.30pm
☏ 01865 499318
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