Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Garden Plenty

I work full time. That is 40 hours per week. 8 hours per day. And I still find time to garden.

I came home from work today, and checked my front yard squash plants. I got 7 good sized summer squashes. (I missed one of the yellow squashes and it grew to about 18 inches long, and 6 inches around. It was too tough to eat, but the worms will like it!)
I went around to the side yard, and harvested a half-basket of beans. Then thought that some steamed Swiss Chard would be good with dinner too, so picked several leaves of it.

I came in the house and cleaned the food, prepared it and had it ready for when my dear Mary got home from visiting a friend. She brought 2 loaves of bread home with her, and we had that with the rest of the veggies.

Oh, and I had chilled beets from the farmer's market as well as sliced cucumbers in vinegar with home grown shallots.

Life is grand when you can eat what you grow yourself.

My garden doesn't provide enough to feed us all year long, but it surely provides lots to eat, and inexpensively also.

My garden is such, that once it gets going, there is very little need for hard work. In fact the hardest thing I did today was pull a few little clumps of crab-grass from a path. It is easier to pull after it gets big enough to notice. :)

Where do I find the time? Well, I don't watch TV much at all, and really enjoy the whole frugal, sustainable thing. It is easy to do, if you only take small steps toward your goal.

1 comment:

Mary said...

What a fabulous dinner!!

As you say, this is a fabulous way to live!
The food is great, and there's a tremendous satisfaction in eating what we've grown &/or harvested ourselves, not to mention the better taste when it's harvested ripe and eaten or processed almost immediately. Even the food from the farmer's markets is so much better than what's available in the produce department of the local grocery.
Beyond the food, the quality of life is so much richer. I do appreciate the time you put into making our life together so wonderful!
Small steps, simple life, rich relationships!