Harvesting

For Family Night we went to Itto's for dinner (they've expanded again!)

then came home and harvested carrots in the dark.

I never bothered to thin the carrots and the one time I tried to harvest earlier in the season I had only enough gumption to walk to the kitchen for a cereal spoon to help me dig them out of the ground instead of all the way to the garage to get a spade like a real gardener. 

The spoon didn't work well, so I didn't harvest many.

I've ignored the carrots the rest of the season out of guilt knowing I'd stunted their growth by not caring for them properly. Today the yard crew cleaned up all the dead tomato plants and cut back the peonies and clematis, leaving nothing behind except all the carrot tops. I guess they thought I wanted them.

So tonight, mainly so the yard guys wouldn't think I was wasteful, and partially out of curiosity to see if they'd actually grown and a tiny bit for the satisfaction of how it feels to dig something out of the ground when you actually use a tool with a deep blade and a long handle, many times bigger and stronger than what you use to eat your cheerios, we harvested the carrots. 

It was actually fun when I didn't have to do it alone. 

A perfect family night activity and Nick and Dan were happy to help.

We ended up with tons! Mostly short, but tasty. 

I guess I will grow them again next year, and definitely not worry about thinning.

Chris stopped by this evening and told us about a podcast he was listening to about a man who'd suffered some severe trials but was committed to keeping a positive attitude. Reminded me of my mom always listening to Zig Ziglar tapes. My favorite one was about not getting angry when his plane was delayed four hours. You could rant and rave and get upset, but the plane still leaves at 6:05. 

I found the episode here. Scroll down to the audio. Zig starts telling the story at the 2:15 mark and goes until 10:00. Coincidentally I had just written in my journal this morning that I was working on responding instead of reacting. I was floored when I saw the title of this famous story I've remembered all my life was the same.