There are some days I wake up and wonder why I garden. To my amazement, something always grows even when I'm neglectful. Gardening is work. Not that I'm afraid of work, but I can't help but ask what it's all for occasionally.
The mockingbirds are eating my tomatoes, the ants have annihilated my strawberries, and the cabbage loopers, well, they are an annual problem. Not to mention all the weeds that keep finding their way into my delicious soil.
But then, there are the rare moments when it all comes together. When halfway through eating supper it hits me that all but two of the ingredients on my plate came out of my garden. As if eating the food my very hands grew was almost rote. I blossomed with excitement. This is the pinnacle I've been trying to reach. I am far from feeding my family 100%, but the idea that eating what we have available takes me one step closer to reaching my goal. Plus there is the fact that I didn't even think about it.
However hard the process is, I can assure you it is all worth it. Just knowing what I'm feeding my body isn't full of pesticides or other chemicals, genetically modified, or is processed seriously makes me giddy. I'm slowly learning it's about trial and error. To be cliche, Rome wasn't built in a day, and I'm coming to terms with the fact that the perfect (to me) homestead cannot be built in a season. I needed the reminder too, and it tasted like real food.
So my advice to you is - keep moving - keep growing. If one tomato is all you end up with, so be it. It's about the journey, not the destination.
By the way, the meal was...
sausage* and sauteed onions
steamed purple carrots
roasted rosemary potatoes
tomato & basil salad with vinaigrette*
strawberries, peaches, and blackberries for dessert
*not from the garden
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