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Having a garden does something for my heart and soul and every year I am reminded at how much I love having one. There have been years when a garden had to get put on the back burner due to remodels or tiny babies. So years it happens it feels extra special. I used to put a ton of pressure on myself for everything to be perfect and I quickly realized that it just made me grouchy and that there is no room for pride when having a garden.
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At the beginning of the summer we had deer nibbling on plants and I feared it wouldn’t make it. Now at the end of the summer the deer didn’t end up being an issue and we need to pick tomatoes everyday to keep up. Sometimes I catch myself saying “oh gosh, I need to go pick tomatoes again”. And then I remember what it feels like to not have a garden and all the memories and lessons we wouldn’t otherwise have with a garden and I change my perspective to “I get to go pick tomatoes again”. Sometimes blessings can be seen as burdens if I let my perspective shift.
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One of my favorite things about having a garden is all the people it reminds me of. My aunt Sylvia always had a beautiful garden and I thought of her a lot this past spring while planting. My great grandpa was widely known for his garden so much so that it was mentioned several times at his funeral last summer. He is the reason I don’t stake my cucumbers. He never did and let them grow and spread all over the garden and every time I trip over vines I think of him. And it always reminds me of my grandma Jean. She called me the other morning and I told her I went out to the garden with my coffee early that morning, saw weeds and started pulling, then got out the mower and mowed down my cucumbers and ended up mowing the whole yard. It was noon and I just had came inside to change out of my pajamas. She laughed and said “That does sound like me, I have coffee cups scattered all over my yard”.
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I am so thankful at how the garden brings the kids and I together. Some of them are more interested than others, but they all enjoy celebrating with me when we have a successful harvest. We love to share our goodies with neighbors, friends and family and I love that they are experiencing something good that has been happening since the beginning of time.
As we start tearing out some plants and prepping for some fall plantings I have realized that the reason I enjoy the garden so much has nothing to do with the garden itself at all. It has to do with people. The sharing, giving and remembering. It’s very special to all of us.
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Here is the current state of our garden. A few weeds here and there, but treasures to be found everywhere. We love going out every evening and gathering what we can and then using it in recipes or canning it for later this winter.
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I made pasta sauce for the first time and it has been my favorite thing I have canned. I told Ally, just think on Valentines Day or some day special we will put out this pasta sauce in the dead of winter and it will make that meal even more special.
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A part of me is sad that the garden be wrapping up soon. We have enjoyed it so much, but just like everything else in life “to everything there is a season”. So for the next month we will soak up the garden while we can and hopefully save as many goodies as we can before chances of frost start arising.
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