Bountiful Produce

Bountiful is such a relative term.  In my youthful days, based on the size of the gardens my Dad would plant, I defined bountiful produce by the bushel.  When one went out to the garden to pick the beans, a half bushel to a whole bushel was considered a bountiful harvest.  Now when I go out to my small garden, I consider it a bounty when I have enough for my next meal and maybe some extra for another meal or two.  Of course, this depends on the type of vegetable being harvested.  My little garden has kept me in steady supply of collard greens this spring.  My onions have done well as I have dehydrated several batches for use all year.  I have also had my biggest blackberry harvest ever this year.  To date I have eaten several berries right off the bushes and made two blackberry cobblers.  If I am able to harvest all the berries that are currently red, I should be able to put some in the freezer for this winter.  My broccoli has just started producing.  I thank God for all the fresh whole food salads I have sat down to this week.  One just feels blessed when they are able to make a hardy salad from kale, collard greens, onions and broccoli right out of their backyard.  When you add spinach, carrots, tomatoes, bacon bits and cheese from the store, it doesn't get much better!  Hopefully my gardening skills will continue to improve and my entire salad will come from my backyard some day!  After years of planting directly into the ground, I have decided it will be better to plant some in container gardens for multiple reasons.  The two biggest reasons being rabbits and drought or flood waters.  My tomato plants have been struggling this year with all the rain.  And once again, my pepper plants fell prey to rabbits.  I've been watching my cabbage as it continues to grow, being thankful each day I go out and see no sign of Peter Rabbit nibbles.  For anyone out there that has ever considered planting a garden of any type, DO IT!  You will love the produce you harvest.  The taste is so much better than any you get from a store!

​Happy Gardening!

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