The Neverending Garden...

Have you noticed how often it's the small things in life that bring lasting memories and real satisfaction - joy, even?

This time of year the garden is usually all buttoned up for the winter. We've been dragging our feet getting the last cleanup done, partly because the garden just refuses to call it quits. We had planned on keeping carrots in the ground until the hard, deep freezes - it's still a pleasure to go out and dig up those bright crisp roots, so sweet and juicy from the recent cold snaps. But who knew that an abnormally cool summer would keep the broccoli so happy that it is STILL sprouting away!

Max spent the afternoon with gramma, and since the "Baby carrots" were planted 'specially for him, we went on a carrot hunt. Yep, they were still there, with bright verdant newly sprouting greens shining from the morning rain, waving in the brisk wind. A NIPPY day. Just right for carrot hunting.

Jetta is my garden buddy all summer long. And it looks like she's not going to give it up until the garden says "Uncle." She's very propriatory about "her" garden, checking up on us even in un-catlike weather.

Max's very most favorite food is carrots. Raw, thank you very much. None of those mushy cooked things for HIM. We planted about four times the carrots this year, with hopes some would be left for winter in-ground storage. Susposedly we can throw some insulating straw bales over the wide-bed carrot patch, allowing us to dig carrots even when the surrounding ground is brick solid. I have my doubts, but we're going to try a small portion of the patch to experiment. It freezes four feet deep here, so those carrots better have a dose of antifreeze along with the blanket of straw...

In the meantime, Max came back in the cabin very pleased with the carrot hunt, and while thawing out watching a movie snuggled in his favorite soft couch blanket, he ate his way through the results of his labor - a bowl of crunchy sweet carrots.

"They couldn't do it without my supervision, you know. Gotta watch every move they make."

Next thing we know, she'll be trying to convince us that she invented Halloween.