Now that summer vegetable
gardening
is over, you might do well to look back and assess what was good
and not so good this year.

Was that first tomato really
worth
all of the sweat, toil, bug-picking, weed pulling, watering,
caring?
Or was it all you had anticipated: luscious color, fully ripe,
slightly acidic taste with that never-to-be-forgotten
aroma.

If it was all you wanted it to
be, can you remember the name of the cultivar you planted? If
you can’t, it might just drive you crazy over the winter. If you
can, write it down and get it for next year.

Make a List

Did you eat the tiny little
“green
grape” tomatoes or others you wished you’d planted last
year?
Get it in the book to plant next season.

What about the pepper? Did you
get it hot enough, or do you need to kick that capsaicin level
up three or four notches for next season? Did they make you some
beautiful pepper sauce for those greens in the fall? So versatile
and so flavorful, if you can stand the heat.

Did the squash have any flavor
or did you have to put in extra onions to eat it? Put in your
book for next year that you will look at growing three or four
of the newer varieties — both yellows and zucchinis — and
mixing
them when cooking.

Pick Your
Potatoes

Were the potatoes just reds and
whites? Yukon Gold and German Fingerlings, along with the blue
ones, add zip to your potato salads and creamed or mashed
potatoes.

Never had purple mashed potatoes?
Because Daddy’s and Mother’s alma mater has purple and gold
colors,
my children are accustomed to purple and gold food, including
potato salad. It’s not as shocking as green grits on St.
Patrick’s
day.

Improve your garden, enliven you
eating habits, change those drab food colors. And who knows –
maybe the kids will eat Brussels sprouts.