A Year of Gratitude – July 26, 2024

I harvested my gratitude in the kitchen garden today. It’s that time of year, when the garden gives me a reason to be thankful almost every day.

I grabbed my basket from the hook inside the mudroom door and headed outside to see what was ready to be picked. It’s a basket that was the very first one I ever made. It has been used to collect fresh eggs from the coop and all sorts of produce from the garden. It’s seen a dozen years of use and is still what I reach for this time of year.

Our tomatoes are just rounding into shape. We’ve had cherry tomatoes for a few weeks now, but the slicing tomatoes are just ripening. There were four of them to collect, all a medium size and unblemished. I was dreaming of a BLT as I picked them.

There were plenty of cherry tomatoes to add to my basket. I was delighted to have plenty of my favorite cherry tomato, Black Cherry, to pick. I popped a few of those right into my mouth. There’s no more delicious tomato than one still warm from the sunshine. They certainly didn’t disappoint.

I added one cucumber to my day’s harvest. I’ll most likely make a quick pickle with it. It’s the perfect size for that use.

There’s something so fulfilling about collecting ripe produce from your garden. It’s really no wonder that I plant a garden each spring. To plant a garden is to commit to believing in the good that will come from your efforts. You have to believe that your hard work tending to the garden will be rewarded.

Mine was today and I have a basket full of reasons to be grateful.

What are you harvesting from your garden this week?

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.