End of Summer

Well, it’s that time of year again when the kids have one last weekend before returning to class. Parents get to spend lots of cash on school supplies and fees that are not covered by the school taxes they pay. On the plus side, parents don’t have to try and figure out what they are going to do to keep the kids entertained for the summer while they are at work. All in all, it is a good thing the kids are getting back to class. I want those kids educated up so that they can get out and have good jobs when they grow up so that the pension fund continues to be filled. GO KIDS!

It is also the time of year when I start to think that the grass is growing slower which means that it needs cutting less often. It isn’t growing slower; I just like to convince myself that it is. My friends on Vancouver Island never get to think the grass has stopped growing...suckers! Mind you they have forgotten what a snow shovel is.

Of course the end of the summer is also the time when I can literally reap what I have sown. In the spring I planted carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, peas and for some inexplicable reason we planted kale. We have had new potatoes from the garden a couple of meals now and I think I am in seventh heaven. I am not sure if they actually do taste better than the store bought variety or if I am simply justifying all of the water I sprayed on them this summer. The peas have been long ago harvested and every time I open the freezer I se the half baggie of peas I can’t help but think the $3.50 I paid for the peas in the spring was far too much. I am sure that I did something wrong, but for the life of me I don’t know what it was.

The tomatoes are plentiful but sadly I have yet to see even a pinkish tinge on the green skins. There are a few more weeks of potential growing and ripening, but I suspect I will end up covering them in newsprint down in the basement while they take their own sweet time to turn red. The carrots are safely in the ground and it is with great expectations that I will have a good harvest. I will settle for “goodish”. Louise’s pepper plants seem to be doing well and a couple of the plants have edible green peppers. Yes, she bought red pepper plants but that is far too much to hope for.

Thankfully I don’t rely on the garden to get me through the winter. I put my trust in the many grocery stores that dot Calgary’s landscape.

I have been thinking for most of the spring and summer what it must have been like a couple of hundred years ago. I have always thought that even though fresh food would be in short supply toward the end of a particularly harsh winter, the spring would bring fresh food. If my garden is anything to go by, those poor bastards from two hundred years ago will just be getting full bellies mid to late August. That is just in time to prepare for the lean winter to come.

Once again I am thankful to have been born when society can organize food processing and distribution to allow me to effortlessly over eat. Just as long as I continue to have cash in my pocket I will be able to put food in my mouth.