Waste Not Want Not

These past few months have been strange to say the least. A winter with hardly any snow and almost none of the usual extreme cold characteristic of this part of the country gave way to a spring that couldn't seem to make up its mind if it wanted to warm up enough to allow for planting. Then, when the warmth came, it was followed by a late hard frost that killed off most of the blossoms on the fruit trees. So if you see the price of apples, cherries and other arborial fruits going sky high, you'll know why. Eventually, the warmth did come to stay, with a vengeance. We almost matched the all time record for number of days above 90 degrees in one summer. But the heat has been great for my pepper plants. And now they are in all their glory. This beauty was harvested from a plant grown from seeds I saved from a pepper I purchased from the supermarket last winter. Fresh off the plant it was fragrant, juicy, flavorful and made a great addition to my homemade soup. I'll be saving seeds from this pepper to grow next year. Hopefully, the plants will give more juicy treasures like the one pictured above. Mother Nature just keeps on giving and we should never waste her gifts.