Ahhhh! Springtime in the Rockies

Spring has come to Missoula (and not a moment too soon for my poor heart).

The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and green things are sprouting all over, including in my veggie patch.

I have garlic, lettuce, herbs and scallions that are ready to eat now.  (The garlic bulbs are not mature yet, but the green scapes - the part of the garlic that grows above ground- can be cut and used as a substitute for garlic cloves.)

Elsewhere in the veggie patch, the peas, carrots, beets, radishes and spinach seedlings are making their presence known, and just last week end I planted out a dozen Brussels sprouts seedlings.

In the house, awaiting their debut, are pumpkin plants, kubacha squash plants, zucchini plants, cucumber plants, bell pepper plants and 37 (yes, you read that correctly - thirtyseven) tomato seedlings of various and sundry varieties.

I always say I hate dislike don't enjoy vegetable gardening, and it's true.  It's a tedious, time-consuming experiment involving mud, water, dirty fingernails and uncertain results.  (Don't get me started on the weeds.  I'll be battling morning glories in my nightmares until mid-November!)

But, at the end of the summer, when harvest is finished and everything has been preserved and tucked away in cupboards and shelves, there is a sigh of relief, a sense of accomplishment and (if I'm completely honest) a feeling  of smugness self-satisfaction self-sufficiency that nothing but growing and preserving my own produce can bring.