The Love Hate Thing

Ask me about our garden in the spring and I am happy to tell you about it and excited to pick and eat the fresh veggies. Talk to me about it again in mid-August and you will wish you hadn't. That first August corn is so delicious and sweet. Then you pick 30 ears, shuck it, blanch it, cut it, and freeze it and 2 hours later you have a few freezer boxers full. Lots of work for a little corn. The next day you realize that you have 30 tomatoes that need love and care and has anyone noticed there are 12 more zucchini outside and one is the size of a small child? Hello to you too peppers, onions, cukes, tomatillos, basil, potatoes, and hot peppers. They are like the company that drops by for a visit but forgets to go home.


Now before I talk myself out of a garden again, let me show you what I love about gardening.



I love the variety, the vibrant colors, the daily harvest, and most of all, the freshness. I take joy in knowing that God provides the sun, soil, rain, and human energy it needs. Sometimes I wish God would take a sick day so that maybe for one day our zucchini would just knock it off.

So instead of getting overwhelmed, I try very hard to get crafty. I think of what I can use now and how I can preserve it for winter. We have learned in the past that a garden can control you. It can be very difficult to just toss something because you have too much. It is very easy to feel like you simply must do something with everything. This makes me crazy and literally makes me have conversations with vegetables in my head. Hello you stupid little zucchini that grows faster than anything in the world and is a staple for so many, many, many, many different meals. I know you have so many wonderful nutrients intended to nourish our bodies but today is not your day. One quick toss into the field...out of sight out of mind. Hello, my name is Becky and I'm a vegetable chucker.

But catch me on a day when I have the time and energy for all of this and it's all good....

Ah yes, Greek salads. Always a winner because you use up cukes, tomatoes, red onions, green peppers, and oregano. Just add some olives, feta, oil and vinegar and it's done. No lettuce needed. Breathe. Next...

Green peppers. Easy one. Wash and chop and freeze. We'll use later for winter soups, chilis, and strombolis. Next.

Tomatoes. So many options. So little energy. It is 91 degrees outside and I don't have it in me to stew these or turn them into salsa or sauce. Into the blender they go and out they come as tomato juice. No boiling, no sweating, no sugar added, no nothin'. Into the freezer for taco soup in November. I can do this. I am not angry. These vegetables are my friends.

Okay, last but not least, the zucchini. The bad thoughts are coming. Go away, go away. I could freeze more, I hear curses in my head. Zucchini pie? Did it. Friend zucchini? Did it. Zucchini bread? Muffins? Lasagna? Enchiladas? No.No. No. No. Must find peace with this zucchini...

Aha! Zucchini brownies. Of course. Why not mix vegetables with chocolate? It will work perfectly for my daily 1:00 chocolate fix. I admire it for a moment. I am calm. Resentment is subsiding. They actually taste decent. I am slowly making peace with my summer enemy. But tomorrow is another day with new vegetables. No worries. A few may end up on the table. A few might end up in the closest field. But for the first time in five summers, the vegetables are not controlling me. And it feels great.