Harvest Blessings

At the beginning of the growing season, I planted a couple of cucumber plants. Cucumbers, it seems, are one of those plants that I grow and usually only end up with a few bitter-tasting cucumbers, so I normally don't bother with them. But this year I decided to try again. I started them from seed in the soil and watched them grow, survive the grasshopper invasion that left my apple tree without a single leaf, and then the fruit fly swarms that ate my tomatoes off the vine before they were even ripe enough to pick.

Throughout the summer, I enjoyed several cucumbers from the garden right to my plate, but the other day, when a light frost killed some of the leaves on the plants, it revealed several more cucumbers that had been hidden under thick leaves, some had been hidden for a very long time judging from their size. There were way more than I thought possible for our family to use, so I decided to make pickles. I've never made them before, but that didn't stop me from trying.

I went out to my garden to harvest my cucumbers, plucking them and putting them in my biggest colander, but it quickly filled. I had to go back inside and set them on the counter and go back out to the garden for more. The same thing happened again. And again. Overall, I had more than 40 cucumbers to turn into pickles, and I didn't know if I had enough jars or ingredients to make them. Luckily, all turned out well, and now I have several quarts of pickles and pickle relish for my family to enjoy.

What a fun learning experience for me to discover that sometimes right before our very eyes, are the fruits of our labors and other blessings. Sometimes I think I get so involved with life that I don't take time to look for the bounteous blessings all around me, but when I do take time to look and feel grateful, I feel richly blessed.