The Thrill of the Harvest

Harvest time is a great time to reflect on why we do what we do, and why we love our passion so much.

Launch Gallery

As we wrap up the first month of Summer , I and most of my gardening fellow here in North Texas have now put in between five to seven months of preparation , planning , and growing time into this yr ’s harvest . Not to bring up in Winter keep to tend to the dusty - hardy Fall crop that ‘ weather the storm ’ and were still producing . Since I was gon na give my cold frame and Wall - group O - H2O a elusive trial this class , I started my tomato and pepper seed at least a week before Christmas , two week before than I did last class .

So , it is perfectly understandable why a few of us are ready for a ‘ good luck ’ . For the most part , all of the cool - season Spring crops are now a memory . From radishes , spinach , peas , onion , chard , greens — and who knows how many varieties of lettuce — there were enough salad to outfit a minuscule restaurant or cafeteria .

Before those crops even nonplus a foothold in their respective raised beds , the Summer hooey was going in . Whether it be direct - seed stuff like Cucumis sativus , bean plant , and melons , or the tomato and capsicum pepper plant organ transplant I mentioned earlier ; the plots were filling up fast .

Fast - forward to today . The 100 - plus - degree heating plant indexes , mosquito Assault , and miniature droughts are the position quo here . gardener and plants alike are feel the outcome ( at leastwecan whole tone inside an air - conditioned star sign for our body of water breaks ) .

For the most part , we have about a calendar month to sit around back and take this all in before we are in our Fall planting schedule ( tomatoes , round off two anyone ? ) . We ’ll enjoy produce in a way only we gardeners can , and then hand out the extra to lucky friends , neighbors , relative , and even strangers .

Through all of this , we are now being reward for our back - breaking work and stew . We are being reminded as to why we do what we do , and the fulfilment of our efforts is come full - circle .

Take the local biotic community garden I volunteer for . I was tell during our last monthly working day that we have harvested 1,100 pound of garden truck for the year so far . This is well above where we need to be at this point in the time of year to meet our end of 3,000 pound for the food pantries we support . In addition , I have bring several 12 pounds of produce out of my home base garden to this same causal agent . The only chill I ’m missing is catch the looks on the faces of the folks whose lives we ’ve touched and helped .

Though I ’ve almost forgotten the harvests from my very first garden over two decades ago , I still get a renewed thrill every year with the raw varieties or crops I try . Two come to mind immediately — my Pattypan / Scallop squash that has done very well , and the Israeli / Ogen melons that are number before long .

A case - in - point to leave you with : I ’ve had two different people in reality wonder why the Cucumis sativus I give them had spines on them . Spines!It was a firm monitor of how so many of us have produce ( no pun intended ) to accept the veggie you regain in the grocery stores as the proficient you may perhaps have . What a criminal offense .

So let ’s think of when we ’re harvesting , it ’s wanted time indeed .

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