Gardens Reward

All of this came from our backyard garden.

That is a pretty big basket of squash and peppers.

Crookneck and straight-neck squash.

Two cookie pans of squash ready to be heated in the oven.

Looking good.

Time to cool down the squash before freezing.

Five containers of squash.

Ready to be frozen.

What a beautiful head of cabbage. We should have planted more.  The first head was so crisp and tasty.

I love having a small garden in the backyard. The way we plant it and cover the ground with newspapers and straw make gardening very easy. Our only problem is gathering the food before the snails and bugs eat it up. I had several snails trying to destroy my cabbages when I picked them but I cut them out of the heads and washed the cabbage real good. After eating one I can understand why we are battling the snails for them. They are delicious; much better than store bought. I don't know how many people grow a garden in this day and age but it is one of the most primal feelings of connect with life. Every year we get to see the miracle of life as seeds burst open and stretch out to reach the sky and their roots bury into the ground, giving them nourishment.

I've been freezing food from our garden outback for several years and I am beginning to really enjoy it. I plan for the foods that I want to add to my stockpile for the winter. We always like to eat lots of tomatoes and squash and okra. I also gladly take anything my mother gives me from their garden. They have enough space to plant corn and beans. For some reason we never grow green beans. Everybody buys the plants they want and we never get around to growing beans. I can tell Don really wanted lots of squash this year because he bought a bunch of plants and then bought a dozen more. It's a good think I like yellow squash, too. 

Our garden has grown and evolved over time. This year we fenced in an area to keep the animals out. No telling what we might do next year. I intend to post updates as the summer progresses.

As Always

PIO