Gardens are awesome

It's been so neat to just run out and pick some broccoli or cauliflower or whatever for dinner.  It's getting better all the time, too.  The lettuce is long gone, but now we're getting carrots and we'll have zucchini by tomorrow or so and the tomatoes are on their way and everything is getting all big.  I really can't describe how satisfying I find it to have my fridge (and my freezer) stocked with all this homegrown awesomeness.

(Speaking of homegrown awesomeness- I can't believe that baby ticker is down to 40 days today.  That doesn't feel like long enough to get ready.)

{Pumpkins!  Two kinds, neither for eating.  If you look closely, you can see a bit of the garden hose off on the right for scale.}

{Yellow zucchini- these are what my dad always grew.  I think they taste better than green, and my dad pointed out that they're also a lot easier to see, making it much more likely that they'll be picked before they get huge and gross.}

{The early girls.  There was a stem that had some even bigger, but they were in too much shadow to get a decent picture.}

{Some general garden lushness.  That's watermelon in the front, acorn squash behind it, tomatoes growing up the stakes behind it, and then bits of broccoli and potato are visible, as well.}

 I always took it for granted when I was younger when my mom would tell me to go out to the garden and pick this or that for dinner.  I didn't understand how neat it is to grow your own food.  And can and freeze it, too.  Speaking of canning, I figured out what I'm going to do with all those tomatoes!  I think tomatoes are gross in their unaltered state, but I love all sorts of tomato products, like salsa, tomato sauce, etc.  Thus, I'm going to can spaghetti sauce and maybe salsa!

I think part of my excitement is due to watching several food documentaries and shows in the past year, like Food Inc. and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (we're currently watching it on Hulu).  It really makes you feel good (and maybe a little bit self-congratulatory) to watch shows like that and be able to say "We don't eat that!" and "I know where my food came from!"  Food Inc. is also one of the reasons Mike began to actually consider my plan for keeping chickens.  He's so on board now.  Now if he could just come around on the goat issue, we'd be set...