Fresh Pickins

A few days ago, Michelle and I happened to be at the garden at the same time. Well, actually I was leaving as she was pulling in, but we won't argue over the small details. That's how it is now - everyone individually going in here and there to check on their little family gardens.


I hadn't been there for a little while and I was so excited to see how much growth had taken place. I actually had onions and carrots and lettuce - Oh My!

Michelle told me she had her first salad a few days prior to that from the fresh lettuce harvested from her garden. How great is that?!

Today, I had the day off - hooray for Civic Holidays! I decided that Sarah and I should take advantage of the day together to go down for a little look. The first thing we saw was this bright yellow bug flying around. At first I couldn't figure out what it was and then it stopped on a zuccini flower - a bumblebee!! So covered in pollen we couldn't see the black stripes anymore. Can we stop here and give a shout-out to the little worker bees and their importance to our world - Yay bees!

And then we noticed a gorgeous zuccini sitting there on the ground just begging to be picked. So we did! Then we noticed we had some beautiful spinach and lettuce (don't ask me what types they are - I just planted a whole bunch of different kinds) ready to be picked as well. I'm now with Michelle - having freshly picked lettuce for lunch - oh, what a treat! I never imagined I'd ever say "lettuce" and "treat" in the same sentence but there it is people - we have made definite progress.

And oh how wonderful everyone's gardens are coming along. There are beets, tomatoes, potatoes (Paula's look absolutely wonderful!), beans (those that have survived the birds plucking them out of the ground), turnip, radishes, and just all manner of wonderful green things sprouting out of the earth. Sarah and I came home and immediately started on our fresh lunch. After playing in the dirt, don't forget to wash your hands first!

Then came the veggie washing. And honestly, I don't even think it would have NEEDED washing when it was first picked, it looked so good. That is, until Sarah threw a handful of dirt in our bowl. Oops! Then we searched our fridge for some things to add to our greens. I personally think a salad can contain just about anything. And because I love sweetness - especially to offset some of those "strong" flavoured types - I decided to add juicy sliced plum. One half of the plum was thrown in with the greens. The other half I squeezed for juice to add to my oil and vinegar dressing. This was brand new for me in the salad department but can we simply say "YUM!". It was absolutely DE-lish with a capital D-E!Enjoying the fruits of our labour.

Remember that zuccini we picked? We actually don't like zuccini so we disguised it in the form of a homemade super moist zuccini-chocolate cake & muffins. Now, that's what I call eating your veggies! And enjoying them to boot!

Here is where I'd like to take a moment to send a big thanks to our local Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook town council for graciously allowing us to use the vacant land behind the recreation building. We greatly appreciate the generosity and hope you know how much it means to those of us who are involved in this family-friendly community project. Without land to borrow this splendid idea would, obviously, have never come to fruition. Thanks!

Families, if any of you have pictures or stories of your own that you would like added to this blog, PLEASE send them along to me via email at gbstownoffice@eastlink.ca and I'd be more than happy to post them.

Happy Harvesting,

Myrna