It's not much. Some of it was simply a trial run, to see how it grew, if the squirrel decided it was buffet worthy, if it was something we would actually use, or in some cases out of simple curiosity as I'd never encountered it before. Some we never got the chance to taste, either the squirrel ate it all or my knee delayed harvesting until it was too spoiled to use.
Some I have used up our entire harvest and it was delicious! The sweet heirloom peppers were delicious in salads for almost two weeks and I have been harvesting tiny cherry tomatoes each day. They brighten a salad or simply a plate of cheeses and crackers. The Giant Marconi sweet peppers are turning a beautiful red and I might even harvest one to go with our dinner tonight. Supposedly they have a smoky goodness when they are grilled. I guess we'll see.
Sadly, the jalapeno's were a loss again this year. I think it is time to simply let them go, and not return them to the line up. Although they did produce like crazy this year and the loss was completely the fault of my knee, as I wasn't able to harvest and use them when they ripened. Last year they were not hot at all, evidently that happens if you treat them too good. They thrive on neglect from what I have learned.
The bright red crushed peppers turned out wonderfully. I was only able to harvest 3, out of all the beautiful peppers, again... my fault. I'd planned to do so on Tuesday of last week, but my silly knee stalled me. That stall cost me 3 beautiful peppers. They over ripened and weren't able to be dried. I dried the last three overnight this weekend and this morning I ground them into the most wonderful dried red pepper flakes I think I have ever tried. I've never had them truly fresh like that. What a difference from the stuff you buy in the store.
It wasn't just the vibrant color, it was the texture, the smell (almost took my breath away at first) and the taste. It simply pops in all categories. This one will get the opportunity to repeat next year, maybe several plants, one can never have nor use too many red pepper flakes!
I've also been harvesting and using so many of my herbs. The basil was so fresh and beautiful in Saturday's Caprese Salad, one of my daughter's favorite dishes. And I might have to confess to being a bit over the moon in love with the gluten-free Parmesan and Rosemary Crackers that I have been making lately. I usually use dried rosemary, gotta say fresh is a total game changer.
My little garden is nothing major, it will never feed Hubs and I long term. I don't know that I could adjust it to do so or not. And this post isn't even about gardening, although I could ramble on about it all day. It's more about the feelings that come from providing for one's self. The power in the harvest.
It feels extraordinary to provide. I think that is one of the reasons we are so easily maneuvered into working longer hours to give more of ourselves so that we can provide more and more. It's so easy to lose sight. But when you are providing without a middle man... that is where the true power is!
I used to be that person. Up at stupid o'clock, rushing around, long, long hours, etc... because I was providing for my family. Do you recognize yourself in that statement? So many of us did and do. Yet somehow we become disconnected from the truest sense of providing.
We stop providing ourselves.
I remember being too tired to fix a meal. To worn to enjoy time with family. I remember living on a rigid schedule of work, chores, sleep... do it all again.
Sure I had a garden back then, but I didn't give it the care it gets now. It wasn't out of lack of wanting to, it was simply out of lack. Lack of time, energy, and frankly desire. Not that I didn't desire a harvest, not that I didn't want a beautiful, bountiful garden. I did. I was simply pouring from an empty bucket.
Even with my health challenges this year, even with fighting the squirrel and weeding a crazy amount (was it really my idea to hang bird feeders - those are filled with seeds, remember?) I am able to harvest from my garden.
I have spent the entire growing season watching, nurturing, enjoying the changes around me. I have been able to breathe in the sunshine and rest in the rains. I have journeyed with it. Harvest season has just started. I won't need bushels to carry my harvest in a small basket or bowl will suffice. Soon I will look at my herbs with the intention to dry them, I can already imagine the wondrous smells that will fill the house as the oregano, thyme, basil and of course rosemary are dried and prepared to fill my cupboards for the winter.
Each step simple, basic. And each step will help me be more prepared for the winter to come. Each time I pull one out to sprinkle into a meal for Hubs and I, I will be able to remember the joy of nurturing it of growing it on my own, working with Mother Nature to provide.
I've often thought that the advent of grocery stores and mass production of food has robbed us of something deep and elemental. To know that there are people that have never had the joy of collecting and using fresh eggs or food that hours before was still growing on the vine, tree or in the ground. There is something so elemental about the connection with source when you harvest and gather your own food. Even now, I am feeling drawn to explore new ways to get back to that simpler time.
And please don't let the word simpler fool you. Simpler doesn't mean easier. I would never insinuate that gardening or farming was easier. Far from it. It's something different though. Its the connection with the earth, the soil. Sweet Hubs teases me often, says that I can get completely lost digging in the soil. He's right, I could, I love to dig my fingers into rich soil. I feel a connection that soothes my weary soul.
There was a time I had a beautiful garden large enough to feed my family. It's one of the only things I miss about my previous home. This house will never be able to have a garden like that, the yard goes down the side of a hill. Yet it will never stop me from experiencing the joy of planting, growing and harvesting.
Soon the leaves will fall, the cool nights will slow the growth of everything as the earth falls asleep for the winter. I will be harvesting until the last moment. I personally love the end of the year tomatoes, they have a sweetness those grown in the heat of the summer miss (although Mr. Squirrel thinks so too... so...). When I put my planter boxes to bed for the season, I will make sure that I fill them with nourishing composts and nutrients so that when spring starts to waken everything they will be ready. All through the winter we will benefit from the small boxes in the treetop garden.
In my world a garden is truly a metaphor for life. We are either preparing, nurturing, growing or harvesting in a non-stop circle. It's taken this year to slow me down enough to realize it.
For a long time I felt like I didn't have time to slow down. To do random things like grab my coffee and head out to watch the sunrise far beyond the boundaries of the city. Something Hubs and I did often when we were newlyweds and I didn't work outside of our home. Yet today, I took a break from writing and we did just that. There was no angst, nothing stressful about it. It was just a quest for pure beauty. To which we were rewarded with not only the beauty of the sunrise, but two young deer in our front yard when we returned.
I am living in a time of grace and peace. The world isn't perfect, I am struggling to understand the insanity. I feel that personally, I've moved back into that stage of preparing. I can't do much physically, but I am planning, I am preparing the soil so to speak and I am living in this nurturing bubble of time. It's how I am choosing to look at this moment of time where I am not really able to do everything/anything that I want to do.
Soon, the seeds that I am planting and nourishing will start to burst through the soil.
Soon...
What phase of the garden are you in?
Good one! 381+
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