harvest //

Early in summer, my mother-in-law gifted us with a used wagon from the thrift shop where she works. Little did we know then that the wagon would become such an important part of our summer harvesting ritual.

A few times each week, when M. got home from work in the evening, he would load little Roman into the wagon for a pull around the yard and to our gardens. M. would pluck whatever was ripe from the vine and hand the treasure to little Roman who waited patiently on his seat in the wagon. Roman took his job very seriously. Once the vegetables were in his hands or in his bowl, he would not let go of them. He would keep everything tucked carefully inside while M. continued to pull him around the yard and water the gardens and the lawn.

Later the boys would return inside, where Roman would come running to me (always at top speed!) to show off the fruits of his labor with pride. After much applause and excitement over the picks of the day, he would finally turn over the veggies for cleaning, slicing, and devouring.

Our summer gardening didn’t go quite as planned — but then again what did this summer. We got things in the ground too late and the plot that we chose for the larger garden didn’t get enough sun. Our large salad tomatoes took forever to ripen. Finally one night we knew that they were ready and planned to pick them the next morning for a big salad. That night, however, one of our friendly local deer paid the garden a visit (for the first time all summer) and ate every last tomato. We still had a nice crop — especially considering that I started more than half of it from seed. Our green beans, cherry tomatoes (red & gold), and eggplants were the star performers. We also learned that Roman is truly tomato-obsessed. I’ve never seen a child devour a tomato like he does. (Sometimes the cherries never made it into the house.)

I attempted several varieties of flower from seed, but the zinnias were the only to make it to bloom. I was tempted to cut a few for a bouquet but there weren’t quite enough and, more importantly, they’ve been drawing hummingbirds to the yard almost every day! That has been a real treat.

In any case, autumn is upon us now. The air has turned cold and soon our garden will fade as we move into the long, bitter cold months. For now, though, we’re enjoying the change of season — pumpkins, sweaters, & boots.

“Harvest” is the September writing prompt of The Mommy Blogger Collective. In addition to a monthly writing prompt, the collective hosts a monthly blogger featurette. This month we are featuring Courteney of The Titled Blog. A few words from Courteney — Hello! I’m Courteney from “The Titled Blog” I live up in Canada (in Abbotsford, British Columbia – just East of Vancouver) with my husband, one year old daughter Lucy, a pug named Minnie and an angry flame point siamese cat named Bigsby. My blog has evolved over the last 7 years from random rants and social commentary to lifestyle and now most recently to being a mom. My daughter was born with a lot of health problems and I often write about the challenges that have come with having a baby that has spent a good chunk of her first year in and out of the hospital and how to deal with those challenges head on. When I’m not blogging, I work as a photographer with my own business (Courteney Rodda Photography) sing in my jazz band “Courteney Rodda and the Other Guys” and most recently I am sewing for an awesome local company making baby moccasins called “Minimoc”
You can also find me on Instagram, where I post too many pictures of my daughter, dog and cat.

/// The Mommy Blogger Collective /// Christina, Courteney, Dena, Erica, Erin, Gillian, Katie, Misty, Nicole, and Renée. ///