small things {veggies}

small things #63 ... veggies

I hear the car door slam and I know that Daddy has come home.  From my spot at the kitchen sink, I hear the thump and thud as kids run to the front door.  Lydia grabs a leg and gives it a squeeze while Ashley grabs his attention with the latest news from school.  Being the good daddy that he is, he listens and squeezes back and then slowly disengages himself in an effort to get to the kitchen.

A quick smooch and a smile and he's landed back at home.  Ahhh....

The kids run back to whatever they were doing before they attacked Brett at the door and I return to stirring pasta and chopping tomatoes.  A few minutes later, Aaron sniffs his way into the kitchen.

"What's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti and a salad."

"Yum.  Where's Dad?"

"I'd check the garden."

The garden.  Brett's other baby.

(Three years ago, Brett had a dream to put in two garden boxes and we've been enjoying the fruits of his labor ever since!  We've had another bountiful year and it has been a pure delight to eat and enjoy vegetables from our own garden.)

In the morning, Brett can be found checking on his plants and making sure that all the sprinkler heads are working.  In the evenings, if Brett isn't in the house, you can bet that he's outside checking on the pepper plants, re-directing the pumpkin vine, hunting for cucumbers or harvesting tomatoes.

Upon returning to the kitchen, he's likely to deposit a pile of produce on the countertop.  Hardy green zucchini and lumpy squash abound.  Purple eggplants and chubby cucumbers spill out of the bowl.  Fire engine red cherry tomatoes and brilliant yellow pear tomatoes sit within reach to be nibbled and munched by my grazing children.  And me.

He also fills me in on the prolific abundance of pole beans, the voracious spreading habits of oregano and the curiously orange spaghetti squash that apparently experienced a little cross-pollination with the pumpkin plant nearby.  We mourn the demise of the Santa Fe pepper plant and Google recipes requiring an abundance of cucumber.

On our recent return from a visit with Gramps and Grammy, we discovered a rather barren kitchen.  The refrigerator light was blinding for lack of food and the pantry echoed.  Gratefully the garden was still overflowing with veggies.  In spite of being desperately in need of a grocery store run, we ate like kings and queens that night.  Veggie-loving kings and queens!

Grilled eggplant and zucchini, roasted spaghetti squash and homemade fresh tomato sauce with basil.

Veggies ... one of the most delicious aspects of summer.  Especially if we grew them ourselves!

Four other fruits we grew this summer ...
standing in front of our prolific garden.

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#2 - You were supposed to have a garden this summer - share the fruits of your labor.  Or in our case, Brett's labor.