Thankful for My Garden

Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on how good our gardens were to us this summer.  If you’re like me, you had a few failures along with successes. But I’m a “half-full glass” kind of girl, so I dwell on the joy the garden gave me. Here are my top three fun crops for 2013.

The Jade Green Beans that I ordered from Gurney’s was an unexpected “hit” in our family.  They were tender, stringless, flavorful, and froze well.  My stepson, who is a meat-and-potatoes eater, recently spent a week with us and he loved them. I never thought I’d get excited about green beans, but I am about these.

Our sunflowers were also a joy.  We grew some Mammoth Yellow and Vivid Crimson Red Sunflowers that I bought from our local hardware store.  The reds were beautiful. The Mammoths were…well, mammoth. Both varieties fared well during our “flash drought” and they handled some fierce winds, too.  In addition to their beauty, I loved how they attracted bees. I welcome all pollinators! I plan to grow them in more places next year.

The Virginia Jumbo Peanuts, which I wrote about in my last blog post, were also great fun.  I’m definitely inviting them back next year.

I’m thankful for these and for all the vegetables and fruit we grew last year.  Watching the tiny seeds produce numerous 25 pound watermelons or “tons” of tomatoes is quite a thrill.  To me, a garden is a place where miracles occur.  This Thanksgiving, in addition to my family and loved ones, I’m thankful for being blessed with a garden.

Happy Thanksgiving to You All!