Satisfaction

There's no two ways about it, work is hard, and hard work is even more difficult. However, the reward for hard work is great. That reward is satisfaction, and satisfaction is what I felt when I looked at the fruits of our labor on our table last week.

I dont' know why, but in years past, lettuce has been the most difficult vegetable for us to grow. It was always bitter or didn't thrive or bolted before it could be harvested. I complained and complained this year as I sowed seeds. Why even bother? Well, this year we had super lettuce!

A big bowlful of salad--lettuce, onions, and carrots--all from our garden.

Last summer we had a rough garden year because I couldn't work as much, what with me being big and pregnant and prone to emergency appendectomies.  The tomatoes didn't mind that I didn't tie them up or weed them as diligently as I should have. They gave us their fruits, and last week we were still enjoying them in spaghetti sauce. Yes, that italian sausage in there is also homemade from a hog my husband helped butcher.

It tasted good and looked thick in the pot, but does anybody know how to keep it from being watery on the plate?

The only blueberries we grow are on miniature bushes. They provide the children with some outdoor snacking opportunities, but we don't actually rely on them for fruity goodness throughout the year. For our yearlong provision of blueberries, we buy them by the 20-pound box shipped from New Jersey. We mostly freeze them in gallon bags for adding to yogurt, smoothies, muffins, and pancakes. This year we made jam with them. 

Even without cute sticker labels, these jars rock my world.

So while some days I just feel overwhelmed by all the jobs on my to-do list, each of those jobs, no matter how tedious or small, is not without it's reward.