Gardening

Since Mark retired we have been discovering what our new normal is. One of the things we do is garden. Mark does most of the hard outside work. He built it, he plants and weeds it, and he harvests it. I cook the bounty. This year we harvested mint, oregano, thyme, chives, lemon balm, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeños, kale, rainbow chard, green beans and okra. 

Ira loves helping Papa in the garden. He will go outside and harvest veggies all by himself when we aren't looking. I didn't get photo of the garden in its prime. That space was totally filled. Out tomatoes have done well. We canned spaghetti  sauce and salsa. We bought a small freezer this summer. I have made and frozen minestrone soup, kale soup, lasagna roll up with chard, chicken gumbo, okra gumbo, shrimp gumbo, and chili. All of these have at least one element from our garden. Our freezer is full. I am looking forward to enjoying these meals in the dead of winter.