Fall Has Fallen

It is not official yet, but Fall has fallen. Afternoons are beautiful, the air is crisp and although we have not had our first hard frost, there have been a few mornings that the low areas were shall I say "frost-y". So, what does this mean for me... it means packing a few seasons worth of gear for my oldest's football games, it means it is harder for me to get up in the early morning when it is dark, it means I want to go to bed earlier because it is dark earlier,

it means our corn and soybeans are ready for harvest,it means the air conditioner has been turned off and it also means that the heat gets turned on for a bit in the mornings to take the chill out of the air. Despite all this and more, the falling of Fall means that it is time to harvest the last of the garden goodies.

For those who have visited my home and have seen my garden it is big, but not large. Each year I experiment with several different fruits and veggies and plant around the 2 apple trees growing on one side. This year I was fortunate to have most of my plants grow,some almost too well, and provide goodies for my family, extended family, friends and our local school hot lunch program. It also provided most of the snacks during the summer for my kids. When they were hungry, they went to the garden instead of the pantry. My snack expense for June and July was next to nothing... YAH HOO!

I have come to enjoy most of the work that my garden takes. My entire family has fun planting the seeds and seedlings, watching it grow and eating from it. But I have to admit, that Fall is the hardest time of the gardening season for me. With the cooler temps it is not as inviting to spend time removing plants and collecting the last of the colorful produce.Chopping, dicing, canning and freezing odds and ends takes more time too due to the small batches of many different things. I also need to find a place in my freezer and pantry to store the last few bags and jars. Sometimes it is a tight squeeze, but by summer there always seems to be lots of room. This means we enjoyed all the work all winter and spring and kept our tastebuds and tummies full with flavorful, healthy food! Gardening is good, even when Fall is falling!

Beauty IS in the Eye of the Beholder

Well, last night I decided that it was time to start taking care of the veggies that were ready in my garden. Now, let me say that being that it is my first official year gardening I have not been the best at taking care of all my produce. I forgot that certain veggies need to be dusted or sprayed for things like larva, bugs etc. So, never the less I found some unexpected creatures when I went to collect the broccoli and cabbage. WORMS!

Immediately I wanted to curse, but I screamed instead. This caused my 4 year little guy Chris to come running over. "What mom," he says. So I showed him the hundreds of eggs and numerous little green worms. "That is so cool! Can I have them?" he continued. I wanted to ask if he was kidding, but by the look on his face I knew that he was serious and excited as a 4 year old could be. So, I continued to collect the broccoli and cabbage with their worms and all and carry them into the house.

Chris grabbed a bucket, tossed some veggie leaves in and said, "I need them all. They turn into the pretty butterflies." He tossed the bucket on the counter and headed off to play a bit more. I on the other hand spent the next 3 hours de-worming, cutting cleaning and packaging veggies. When I was done Chris had a nice collection in his bucket

and my freezer was starting to look a bit more colorful.

I will say that a few thoughts traveled through my mind as I was working. Some of them include...
*Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.
*I wish I was excited about worms as Chris.
*Next year I will powder and spray for critters.
*I wonder if my food from the store, Farmer's market etc. has worms that I just don't know about.
*Thank the good Lord that we have people smart enough to figure out how to make and when to apply products to make our food sources safe.

...and then my dimmly lit light bulb of a brain after hours of picking realized that as frustrated that I am about my small inconvience in my garden it is nothing compared to the stress and constant battle that our farmers (organic and non-organic) and ranchers face each and every day in order to keep our crops and livestock healthy so that it is safe for our consumption.

So, in honor of the WORMS, I thank Chris for seeing a silver lining and finding some fun in my frustration and I thank all that work to make the food in the USA the safe!