My first experience with a vegetable garden is going swimmingly! The weather has been so dry here. Meteorologists are calling this a severe drought. The grass is brown and dormant. Many of my perennials are in danger, and I’m afraid I’ll lose more than a few of them. We have been watering the vegetable garden and it’s starting to produce.

Here are the green beans I picked on Monday. Yesterday I picked more and the first of my peas.
Now, I don’t like green beans. Since I was little, I’ve had to hide them in my mashed potatoes in order to choke them down. It didn’t matter if they were canned, frozen or fresh from the grocery store. I couldn’t like them.

These, however are different. Notice that there aren’t any brown spots. None are old and withered. They went from the garden to the pot to the table in about an hour.

And they’re good. Greg, I know your mouth is hanging open about now, but I liked them. Even in my mashed potatoes, I could tell the difference. They weren’t tough. In fact, they were rather sweet.

Next year, I want Doug to build a couple more raised beds for me. I have to dedicate one entire one to green beans so we’ll have enough to freeze for the winter.

What food do you find is so much better fresh than any other way?