A Year of Gratitude – September 5, 2024

I harvested my gratitude from the tomato patch today. With every ripe tomato that I added to my basket, I was reminded of just how much joy and satisfaction gardening has added to my life.

We have been enjoying BLTs, thick slices of tomato on burgers and sandwiches, and all of our favorite tomato recipes over the last two months. It’s that time of year, the glorious months of summer and early fall when fresh tomatoes are plenty and we can add them to anything we want to.

As a gardener, I am still amazed that tiny seeds pushed beneath a handful of seed starting medium can become plants that grow up and over the trellis that connects the raised beds my tomatoes grow in. It takes me by surprise in a wonderful way every summer.

There are countless reasons to plant a garden. Having delicious, fresh food at the peak of its ripeness is still at the top of my list. The satisfaction of growing that food is a very close second for me.

When my family sits down at our farmhouse table to a meal made with food that I have grown with my own hands, I am filled with a sense of pride that keeps me coming back to gardening year after year.

I know that it won’t be long until it is time to wind things down, to put the garden to bed for the season. It’s just the natural cycle of gardening. The season comes to an end just as we become accustomed to having a steady supply of fresh produce to harvest right outside our door.

When this year’s garden is put to bed, I will take a deep breath and be content in the knowledge that we enjoyed so many delicious homegrown meals and I have so many more preserved and ready to enjoy this winter. And, I’ll do what all gardeners do: I’ll start dreaming of the next growing season.

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.