Top Ten Ways to Enjoy a Backyard Kitchen Garden

As I'm putting my garden to bed for the winter, I always reminisce a little. It's a bittersweet time, watching the plants turn brown and brittle after the first killing frost but realizing the freezer is full of delicious produce that will carry the nutrition and taste into winter. Here are my top ten ways to enjoy a backyard kitchen garden.

10. Watch the bean vines grow higher and higher.
9. Sneak a fresh raspberry before the rest of the family sees them.
8. Harvest lettuce and tomato for your BLT while the bacon is cooking.
7. Clip fresh herbs for a sauce or salad, making the kitchen smell great.
6. Freeze spinach and add it to everything.
5. Admire the cute little cauliflower head alongside the blooming broccoli.
4. Have a zucchini give-away contest: the most creative idea wins (Just don't announce that the winner gets all the zucchini).
3. Make a garden vegetable soup in the crockpot; take the leftovers to work and gloat that you grew your own soup.
2. Bake rhubarb muffins - in January, from your frozen stash of rhubarb.
1. Serve fresh food to the family, nutritious and delicious.