I Hope You Like Carrots ...

I spent most of this day harvesting, and preparing for processing, the bounty of my harvest. I hope you like carrots, cuz we got lots and lots of 'em. I mean ... LOADS.

It's funny, I planted tomatoes (the lack of sun and and the excessive rain this summer decimated that crop), broccoli, cauliflower, green beans (all of which were eaten by ravenous bunnies in the wee hours of the morn) and beets & carrots. The beets did well, but I planted less of them as I am the only true devotee in the family. But my carrots? Planted lots of them and harvested probably 5x more than I expected. Funny ... the bunnies adored my beans but didn't touch my carrots. There goes that myth!

I also learned today that to get carrots to go to *seed* takes 2 years and a lot of luck, plus a fairly mild winter. Which made my decision about gathering carrot seeds to plant for the future an easy one. NOT. Going. To. Do. It. If the world goes to pot and we are left with the hunting and gathering of foods, carrots may well become a thing of the past. "Honey, remember when we could go out and pull one of those long orange things out of the garden and eat it?" Or else, the Gagliano's will be a rich household because I am pretty sure, after this harvest season, I will have canned carrots to spare for the next 50 years.

OK, slightly exaggerating. ;-)

I love that we have the ability to grow our own food. I love knowing exactly what was put into the soil that nurtured my tiny little seeds as they took sprout. I absolutely love the sense of adventure my son brings to harvest time and that he gets to experience healthful food at every stage as it is brought to his plate.

I have planted a "Victory Garden" long before it was *en vogue* and for me the victory is in knowing that, even if Wegman's went away, I can still provide healthy, home grown food for my family with little more than some dirt and a few seeds. Knowing that the sauce my family eats on spaghetti night in March will be made from tomatoes, onions and garlic grown in my own garden, and seasoned with basil and oregano from the pots decorating my patio, processed and canned by me. No fat, no funky preservatives, no words I can't pronounce. Just good clean food, as God intended it.

I realize this is not a *fitness* entry, per se. However, half the battle is the food that we choose to nourish our bodies with. I am excited that all winter long I will have food from my own garden to eat, with nothing extra in it to give it a Twinkies shelf life. Cleaning carrots today means that I will have something great for a long time to come.

I like that.