I need to confess I've been hiding from the garden lately. A few weeks ago we experienced several days in the mid 90's and I simply burned out. Since then, even on the more recent beautiful mild days, I have not tended to garden like I should have.
I tried an experiment of not going to the grocery store and only eating out of the garden for a week.
We picked some beautiful food, peppers, basil, peas, broccoli, beets, turnips, cucumbers, lettuce, and kale.
We enjoyed some happy meals, mostly salads, stir fry and smoothies. And without any meat left in our freezer or the meatiness of squash I believe we were really hungry that week.
I have become most grateful for farmer's stands and grocery stores this summer. And I have become way more realistic in my expectations. I will be satisfied even if we only produce %25 of our own food.
The tomatoes were looking promising. Lots of green ones but the nights have been way too cool lately for them to ripen. We let the guinea hens loose on them hoping to catch those sneaky worms.
Clara has been hiding from her garden because of the "creepy bugs". The weeds are as tall as both her and her flowers. George snuck in there yesterday and picked three bachelor button flowers. He whispered to me just before sleep, "mommy, I put flowers in your bathroom". Sure enough in a tiny vase with water were those three bachelor buttons. That was as sweet and satisfying as a bushel of ripe tomatoes!
Here is a small sample of what the kids may find on a run through the garden. They usually just leave it on the table but today I was handed a whole stalk of kale, roots and all. I am happy that they are still having fun with - hide and seek - in the garden.
And so, not to feel so down on this year's garden, I celebrated our beautiful garlic harvest by braiding and hanging it in the pantry. I have 5 of these lovely braids and a full bushel still waiting for my attention on a quiet afternoon. We consume a lot of garlic in a year as do our animals, I am happy to report we may have actually closed the loop on that need.
Here is the garden view from the kitchen. I may grow tired of toiling in it but I will never get tired of looking at it.
Looking back
I am with you, things have slowed down quite a lot in the garden. It always happens around here this time of year. I think it has more to do with the shift to putting food by for the winter and more time in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteWe too have a lot of green tomatoes and cooler nights too.
Enjoy your harvest.