Grateful for Every Gift

This has been a tough Summer. The Heavy Rains, Storms, Wind have given us drama we did not expect. We had exuberantly developed Garden plans, purchased our seeds and were all set to go. But the Weather has blown us a curve.

We Humans of this Culture seem to expect our plans will be fulfilled just the way we order them. Maybe that is a City Person's expectation. Or someone educated by this Culture. You work hard enough and you make it work. Well, not this summer, and not in this Garden.

Our Dear Garden has taken many hits. We 3 C's have had a difficult time watching plants struggle and go down. Many seemed like they were drowning. They just couldn't breathe. And there was not a thing we could do. One of the hardest things to deal with has been the smell. The last couple of days, certain parts of the Garden smelled like decay. It was better today. We surely have gotten a lesson on what works or doesn't work on an extremely wet cycle.

We had hoped to produce most of the food we will eat over the coming months. We are trimming back on that plan. We have decided to be grateful for every single piece of produce the Garden shares: every tomato, potato, onion and so on. Perhaps that is what we should be doing all along.

Our ambitious plan has a back-up which people did not have a century ago. My Croatian ancestors (Grandpa Kazimir and Grandma Dora Bloskovich) did not have the back-up in 1908. Due to shortages of food in their homeland of Austria-Hungary, they had to leave. Yes, they had to leave. Our back-up plan is also not necessarily available to a lot of other people around the world and for many who live right here in this County. That back-up plan is the Grocery Store.

We could finally get into the potatoes today. Some were rotting in the ground. Others were sticking above the Soil because of the Rains. We have no idea how many we have lost or will lose. We are actually having to take them from the Garden before they are ready. Melanie and Richard washed them. They then laid them out on the floor of the basement. We also picked Peaches and continued the processing. Freezing is the order of the day. Melanie is gathering cucumbers. She will be making Dill Pickles very soon. Richard canned Green Beans yesterday.

Yep. We are grateful for every single one of those gifts the Earth gives to us.