Abundance!

Posted 3 ½ weeks ago about the celebratory first tiny ripe tomato of the season... 
Now picking this much almost every day! :)

Vegetarian Adventures - Fresh Garden Goodness

This was really good.  Last night's dinner, grilled veggies, fresh out of the garden. OK, we didn't actually grow the mushrooms or the onions, but you get the idea...

Green Goodness

Loving spring!  There's something magical about seeing the first fruit and vegetables grow, mature and ripen.  The picking of the first tomato is an annual cause for celebration in our household, and this event began in a small way today, with the picking of the first vine-ripened, totally organically grown cherry tomato!

First cherry tomato!  More vegetarian staples coming soon!

The first full-sized tomato-- ready to pick!

Two on this nice cluster are just starting to turn!

Baby green beans!

Cucumbers - blossoming but not quite showing fruit yet.

Cucumbers, beans and squash.

The first baby summer squash!

Peppers and eggplant.

Small bell peppers - won't be big enough to pick for several weeks.

Banana peppers - we've already harvested some of these!

More tomatos!

Baby grapefruit!  Fortunate to get them in this small tree's second year!

Baby lemon!

Basil.  I can taste the pesto already!

Home composting station.  Every leaf raked, every bit of yard waste, every fruit or vegetable peel or trimming, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc, go in here, and are transformed into brown gold.  With lots of rich organic compost, there is no need for chemical fertilizers.  The plants love it, and happy plants make the best fruit!

Spring Transformation!

A sure sign of spring-- the garden's in business again.  We just observed the first few tiny green tomatoes!

We've had a mild spring, with no later-than-usual cooldowns.  We started our garden seedlings indoors in February, to have them ready for early outdoor planting.  And plenty of great compost from last season's vegetable and yard waste for the young plants to thrive on.  Organic gardening at it's best! 

It also serves as a timely reminder of the fundamental oneness of all that is, fitting perfectly with words from the great Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh:

"When we have a compost bin filled with organic material which is decomposing and smelly, we know that we can transform the waste into beautiful flowers.  At first, we may see the compost and flowers as opposite, but when we look deeply, we can see that the flowers already exist in the compost and the compost already exists in the flowers."

The unity of life.  Yesterday's compost is today's tomato.  Today's tomato is tomorrow's compost.  And so the cycle continues...