Soaking Up the Last of Summer

I love fall and I'm glad the sticky summer heat seems to be officially over. I'm excited for the leaves to change and to get my sweaters and boots back out; but I'm really going to miss my little garden. If you follow my instagram feed (@retr0phot0), you've seen how excited I've been to harvest all those glorious tomatoes and cucumbers! I've spent the summer feasting on cucumber and onion salad, BLT's, and pasta with fresh sauce. Yum!

While I've been preparing for winter dinners by freezing tomato puree and transplanting some rosemary and basil to pots indoors, I'm really going to miss the harvesting ritual. There's something so rewarding about picking from the garden you spent so much time planting and nurturing.

It's also become a nice bonding time for my youngest niece and me. She's 9 and such a helper. She loves to work in the garden and is very particular about which tomatoes are ripe enough to pick. She eats a good portion of the harvest as she goes and tells me about her day. It's nice. I hope she still thinks it's cool next summer.

For now, the garden's still producing veggies and I intend to take full advantage! I think there are some fried green tomatoes in my future. (Stay tuned for the recipe!) I'm also stoked that my peppers seem to love the cooler weather!