Harvest time...

This has been our best year for gardening up here in the mountains. We've finally outsmarted the deer and most of the bugs and have managed to figure out ways to keep our greenhouse cool and moist enough during the day, and warm enough at night. It's not always pretty...we have a wet towel hanging in front of a fan, which helps to increase the humidity...but it's ours.

{Fancy-shmancy deer-proofing}

Our cucumbers are almost ready to pick, we've had a handful of green beans, many hot peppers, a few bell peppers, broccoli, lettuce coming out of our ears, radishes growing like weeds and we even have an accidental pumpkin patch! (A product of "Eh, this will never grow. Just toss is out there in the field.")

{Can you spot the two types of cucumbers? One has a yellow tip.}

I honestly feel like a pioneer each and every time I go out to the garden and bring back food. Real food! To eat! We had alecha for Ethiopian New Year and it felt amazing to go and chop this from one of the raised beds...

Isn't that the most beautiful head of cabbage you've ever seen? I might be biased. Gardening is sort of like parenting though: a hard job, but very rewarding. Oh, and produce never talks back to you.