FALL, now what?

    I should be at ELS watching Fresh tonight, but the stomach flu has gripped my family and it was meet the creature night at my school, so worn out by 7, I came home to rest up for tomorrow.  The Autumn Equinox was yesterday, our project has officially met its deadline. I am forlorn. I don't feel finished. Just today we pulled the last of the potatoes from our garden. With all of its obstacles, my garden gave plenty, a banner year for carrots, and I am so grateful.
   
   I am always surprised at how plentiful my garden is, despite infrequent watering and random weeding- somehow every fall, the garden leaves me with more than I expect. I hate to get all sloppy, but when I bring in food from the garden, or serve it at my table I feel compelled to say grace. 


   When I am planting I say the same fertility prayer I used when I was trying to conceive my kids. My children always feel like a miracle to me, because I know, in the way infertile mothers know, that they could have just as easily not been and my life would have been so different. After I tuck those two beauties in, I pray "thank you, God, for this beautiful child."  


  When I look out at my garden, frost bitten and half turned soil, I have a similar feeling. I have witnessed the miracle of seed to food in my own backyard, shared it with my family and dear friends. I have tended and fussed over it, I have ignored the negative behaviours and praised the positive. I've read blogs, books and brochures, trying to understand the soil, improve my technique. I've learned to cut myself some slack and just let my garden grow along the way. I am thankful for this beautiful food, this blog, and the friendships it has brought into my life.


   So what now?  I am inspired to do better next summer, and to keep track of how local I can keep things in the dark months ahead. I haven't canned any veggies, although I've frozen quite a bit. I want to track my needs so I'll plant more effectively next year and harvest better too. I need to hire a sitter for a week just to get enough strawberries. So for me at least, the blog carries on- with the same objective; to buy local whenever possible and be mindful of the food I'm putting on the plate. I'll be sharing the adventure along the way.


Shannon D.