Summer's Actually Ending

Had a moment of ... not disappointment ... more of melancholy tonight in the garden.  This weekend we picked what will probably be the last of the peppers.  Tonight I was cooking them up for dinner (used a slightly modified version of this Sausage and Peppers recipe), and I went to the garden and picked oregano and the last of the usable basil for the dish.  Knowing that, very soon, I will not be able to wander back there and pick fresh veggies and herbs made me a little sad, like saying farewell to a dear friend.

This is our pepper bed in it's infancy, just after it was planted.

This year we started square foot gardening in raised beds and our garden has never been so productive.  It's been wonderful!  There is nothing like eating a tomato fresh out of the garden!  And fresh herbs?  Wowowow!  We've learned a lot about gardening this past year, and are already looking forward to planting in the spring.  But the garden also reminds us so much of life - how we have to prepare ourselves to be fruitful and productive; how we have to nurture good talents and abilities; and how we have to take care to remove weeds/bad habits when they are small so they never have a chance to really take a firm root.  Gardens can be such magical places.

I really love my garden.  Oh, and the sausages and pepper tasted divine.

-Kim