Summer's reward

For many years I enjoyed my mother-in-law's admiration of my canning shelves at the end of summer. Her praise and affirmation boosted my spirits after many hours of labor at a hot stove in the heat of summer. I confess that some times before her end-of-summer visit I rearranged the jars to give a more colorful appearance.
My mother-in-law has been gone for nearly 20 years. But these quotes express something of my gratefulness at the end of the gardening season.

"The first gatherings of garden in May of salad, radishes and herbs made me feel like a mother about her baby- how could anything this beautiful be mine? And this emotion of wonder filled me for each vegetable as it was gathered every year. There is nothing that is comparable to it....as satisfactory...or as thrilling as gathering the vegetables one has grown." by Alice Toklas

The following poem was taped at my jar shelves for a long time.


Labor of love
Shelves of vegetables and fruit,
Gleaned from bush, or tree or root,
One by one they tell a story,
Fresh tomatoes, rhubarb glory,
Snap beans stacked in green array,
Corn and kraut preserved to stay.
Each one represents her labor
Made worthwhile in taste to savor,
Berries and some cans of peas,
Memories left unawares
Testify that nature's treasure,
Knows no value one can measure,
Wintertime will show the worth
Of her salvaging the earth.
by Vivian Hansbrough