I get a natural high . . . . . . . . .

Since our fall has been mild, I have really enjoyed my garden-fresh lettuce and salad greens. In August, I planted lettuce, chard, radishes, brocolli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, chinese cabbage, pok choi, and arugula. I've got large green leaf clusters on my chinese cabbage, telling me that the heads are starting to form. I really enjoy eating the fresh veggies and seeing that touch of green during the fall and early winter. Last year, I continued to harvest greens through December.

When I was just a little girl, I'd help my Dad plant his garden every spring and fall. Looking back on those memories, I had no idea then that I would experience such joy and adjulation from getting my hands into the soil and planting my own gardens. At the time, gardening seemed like a lot of hard sweatty work, along with swatting bugs and knats, and just no fun at all. Now that I'm older, I cant wait to start planting my garden and get my hands in the soil. I love the earthy aroma of moist, freshly tilled soil.

In anticipation of planting my late fall garden, I've been reviewing "The Gardener's Workshop" seed catalogs with great excitement. There is nothing like the gitty feeling one gets from freshly tilled soil and new seed packets. I've orderd a couple pounds of garlic sets, poppy seeds, carrot seeds, spinach, radishes, kale, beets, chard, and numerous hearty annual flower seeds. I'll do my second fall vegetable planting in mid-October, which should give me greens through December, maybe into January. I just completed my first hearty annual flower bed - Larkspur, False Queen Anne's Lace, Brown Eyed Susans, Calendua, Corn Cockle, Dill, and Nigella. I can't wait to see my flowers in the spring. I'll have my very own fresh-cut flower garden. I'm really looking forward to using my garden flowers to do beautiful flower arrangements.

Once my gardens are planted I awaken each morning with great excitement, anxious to see if this is the day the delicate green shoots will emerge from their bed of rich, soft soil. I brew a fresh cup of coffee and take my morning walk around my yard. I gaze upon my garden with great anticipation waiting for the seeds to germinate and break through the top of the soil. I love those delicate green shoots as they begin emerging from the soil. Other than catching a nice big rockfish, I think seeing those delicate green shoots pop up through the rich dark soil is the only thing I can think of that gives me such a natural high. It is such a beautiful thing to see your seeds germinate in neat little green rows. Oh how I love my garden!