Garden Therapy

What a glorious autumn! For all of you who wrote that the weather is your favourite thing about this season, for once, I have to agree. I don’t think I could ever tire of endlessly sunny, warm, breezy days, with crisp mornings, and harvesty goodness all around.

Yesterday I decreed it “Gardening Day” chez nous. I have needed to weed in the veggie patch for sometime, but I was not expecting the chore to transform into a treasure hunt, spying and unearthing all the goodies the garden has been producing, unbeknownst to me, for the duration of the summer.
First, I discovered that our onion had had babies:
ooh, arty onion shot….

Then, tiny mutant carrots revealed themselves under the broad branches of a tomato plant. We have three happy, squat little orange pumpkins, and three more japanese (green) ones still on the vine.

Thanks to climate change (I think) the warmer temperatures mean that my tomatoes and strawberries still think it’s go time, yielding blossoms,
and even berries!!!

Now, all of this may not float your boat. Before this summer, I loathed gardening blogs, all, “the strawberries aren’t getting enough boron, ” and “have you tried soap and water on the squash leaves?” now, i’m afraid, i’m a proselytizing gardening convert, over exuberant about dirt and sun and what to do with a bumper tomato crop. You’ll just have to forgive my naive enthusiasm. I’m sure next year everything will die, and I will quit gardening forever.

Speaking of tomatoes, however, I’ve harvested a few more this week, and was so charmed with their scarlet insides that I photographed a dinner in production. WARNING: FOOD PORN TO FOLLOW. If you don’t like close-up shots of food, you’ll have to look away now.

ta da. now, if only food always looked that appetizing during the prep stages.

What about you? Question o’ the day: What is your favourite fall food? I think i’ve asked this before, but, maybe you’ve changed your choice recently.

now, i leave you with a mostly unflattering shot of me holding the recently felled giant sunflower that towered over our garden plot until yesterday. the birds, ants, and squirrels picked it completely clean.