Grow Your Own

This is my daily morning view. I sit on the back porch with a hot cup of coffee freshly poured from the French press and enjoy the sound of birds chirping away about this or that. Sometimes the sprinkler keeps me company with its rhythmic ticking, but Norman is always there to keep an eye out for squirrels and an ear open for unusual noises.



Not only is the view beautiful, but the harvest is even more pleasing! What a burden we have on our shoulders to eat all this veg before it goes bad. Lucky for us, friends and family are always eager to assist us!



I love this time of year - the time when we plan each meal around what is ripe in the garden. It is so awesome not to walk aimlessly through the grocery store trying to decide what we will eat all week. The garden decides for us!

Right now we have so much to choose from; eggplant, corn, green peppers, tomatoes, squash and green beans. The squash and green beans are beginning to throttle back on their production, but I'm about to sow a second planting of each. I hope to get them harvested before the first frost, and I think there is enough time to do so.

If you don't already grow your own veg, I encourage you to consider planning a garden for next year. I can't describe how rewarding and therapeutic the garden has been for me. You can start with a simple 4'x4' raised bed constructed of lumber and filled with compost, top soil and peat. Tomatoes, beans and squash are super easy to grow given 6-8 hours of direct sunlight and a little bit of water. The rewards are just priceless.