Squirreling

Cabbage always has a heart;

Green beans string along.

You're such a Tomato,

Will you Peas to me belong?

You've been the Apple of my eye,

You know how much I care;

So Lettuce get together,

We'd make a perfect Pear.

Now, something's sure to Turnip,

To prove you can't be Beet;

So, if you Carrot all for me

Let's let our tulips meet.

Don't Squash my hopes and dreams now,

Bee my Honey, dear;

Or tears will fill Potato's eyes,

While Sweet Corn lends an ear.

I'll Cauliflower shop and say

Your dreams are Parsley mine.

I'll work and share my Celery,

So be my Valentine.

"A Vegetarian Valentine", Author Unknown

It's a corny quotation but few people have waxed eloquent about green beans, so my options were hampered. Did I mention that I had bought a big basket of beans when I stopped to buy peaches, blackberries, onions, radishes, celery and tomatoes? I couldn't resist. So today I processed them for freezing. Now, I know that many of you have been growing, canning, freezing, jamming and jellying for years but this is all new to me and I was surprised at how very satisfying it is to scrub and chop and blanch and bag and store in neat columns in the freezer. It got me to thinking that, even after millennia upon millennia of evolutionary development, there must still be buried deep in our human psyche an animal instinct to stash away food reserves before the frost. Squirrel and I are one. ;-)