Sunny Monday

The sun was shining early this morning as I peered through our front window. After so many dreary days in a row we were ready for some sunshine in our life. The full moon lit up our bedroom last eve and gave us a hope for a bright new day. What a difference the weather makes in our lives.

This being the last few days before going South I was busy with the beets and carrots which had to be pulled and prepared. The beet greens are a special treat for us and I try to get my family to enjoy this nutritious and tasty vegetable. Fall is so encouraging for people who observe the seasons. The fall is the time of plenty and as I drive through our countryside I see a year marked by bountiful crops ( the best in years) and rich harvests.

Our own little neighborhood is a blaze of colour and everyone is busy with the leaves and garden preparations for next spring. Our daffodils split so many times during the last three years I have no place to plant all the new bulbs. My friends in the valley have great gardens and take pride in their grounds and I become jealous of the amount of land to plant and look after. I am running out of places to grow new stuff and I am told every year to downsize but how can I not plant those irises the neighbour threw out or the chestnuts that fell from our tree?

Once you have your hands in the earth and see the wonders of nature growing before your eyes you are hooked. It becomes a way of life, a passion which is passed on to your children so they too might experience the magic of planting a seed and growing a carrot.

Once I played a trick on a son in law who came from Toronto and thought vegetables came from the grocery store. We planted some onions, the kind you use as green eating onions. He helped me and asked how long they would take to grow. That night I put three or four large cooking onions in the row with the seeds. My son in law was amazed the next day when he discovered the growth level in the Ottawa Valley. He picked one of the onions and with utter amazement came in to show us the miracle. The joke was on him but sadly it is too often true these days when most of our population lives in cities and know next to nothing about growing food.

I have to check the beets boiling on the stove because last year I really made a mess when they boiled over. This day is already better because the sun is shining brightly and I am working with my harvest.