Harvesting

How splendid that we just had a little frost! The garden's greens should be sweet for the Gathering of Women Potluck tonight. I think the lettuces could use a little snipping, too, and I know there are at least four or five beets that could be pulled.

This whole concept of harvesting is fairly new to me. At the time I had no basis for comparison, but I've since realized that my previous attempts at growing vegetables have been only marginally successful to say the least! I thought I was doing well to get two jalapenos off of my pepper plant last year, one pretty good sized eggplant, and maybe two handfuls of cherry tomatoes. There was no reason to "keep up" with the food -- I simply waited for the one thing to ripen, then plucked it off. I had no idea the bounty that could result from an organic, carefully and lovingly tended garden!

I've learned so much by simply showing up every week or so and stopping by to water and weed in between. And I have to remind myself that this was just our winter garden -- the tomatoes, squash, zucchini, eggplant, herbs, okra, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, onions, and leeks are still to come!

My confidence in myself as a gardener has grown almost as fast as the collards -- I truly believe that with just a few resources and a small sunny patch, I could grow a good percentage of my own food. That's a pretty good feeling.