Yesterday I worked in my garden, where I find that the vegetables are growing very well.

The corn has risen high above my head in some places, with long, thin tassels dancing against the bright background of sky.

The beets are starting to come in, although they are still smaller than baseballs, actually just a little larger than golf balls. I still pulled out about six of them to eat, their purple juices spilling from the broken stalks.

Along beside the corn, the green beans are trying to climb the tall stalks in a constant battle for sunlight. There are probably enough beans for a mess now, with the little bumps inside the pods growing every day.

Further down in the garden, potatoes fill their rows to overflowing, looking more like a thicket than a garden. Some still sport white flowers. Down into the last row near the edge of the blackberry thicket, I dug around the base of one plant with my hands. Underneath were about six potatoes, some as large as my hand.

It truly has been a good year for potatoes.

Actually, it has been a pretty good year for everything, despite somewhat of a rocky start. The corn was slow in coming up and the beans were replanted three times. For some reasons, many of the seeds just didn't do well.

I tried to keep my rows neat with the layoff plow, but I can see now that I should have used a piece of string for a guide. Here and there a tomato juts off to one side, with the rows staggering like a drunk from place to place. I am reminded of a saying from my great grandfather: "You can get more in a crooked row than you can in a straight one."

I suppose that is some consolation for a less-than-perfect job with the layoff plow, but I am not completely sure on this. When the rows are straight it just seems like the order of things is better. Not to mention the fact that the tiller can be used on the weeds without mangling the plants.

Back up at the top of the garden, I see the squash and gourds are really putting out their yellow flowers now. There were a few yellow squash full grown the other day, although one of them was a dark yellowish-orange and was very hard. I think that means it was left on the vine too long, but I am not really sure. I know that cucumbers get yellow or orange if they are on the vine too long, so I don't suppose squash would be much different. The gourds are growing dark green, hiding beneath the shady leaves. I had to pull out a few stray radishes that had found their way into the vines. They were very hot and wormy to boot. I just wasn't too pleased with them. The garden was plowed late this year due to the rainy weather, so I guess the last freeze or two couldn't get to the little critters living underground. I'll have to fix that next year. It just isn't very appetizing to find a worm in your radish. But it is still better than half a worm, as the old adage goes.

Since the peas were planted late, they are still coming in. The cool, wet weather so far this year has been good to them. Peas usually wouldn't thrive so late in the year. Meanwhile, the lettuce (also planted late), is not really doing very much. It came up and put out its bright green leaves, but I suspect a rabbit has been having its way with it. They have to eat, too, I guess.

Over to the other side, the cabbage and cauliflower are ready to eat, so I plucked out a cabbage head to try. I planted early flat Dutch, but this isn't very early, is it? The heads are very firm and the Sevin dust seems to be keeping the little critters at bay.

I noticed that some of my multitude of tomato plants are starting to put out fruit. I can hardly wait for the German pinks, old fashion yellow, striped and red tomatoes to come in. There isn't much better than slicing into a fresh tomato right out of the garden and adding a little mayonnaise to make a sandwich. It's one of my favorite things about the garden — it's almost like having your very own vegetable stand.

Of course, that isn't the only part of the pleasure. The sheer enjoyment of watching the plants grow from a little seed to a thriving adult seems to me worth the exertion. Although I must admit that I haven't had to do very much besides pull a few weeds.

I think I will go fry a squash for supper, boil up some fresh eggs, fry a cabbage and put in a cake of corn bread. Then I can sit on the porch and wait for the shadows of evening to cool the house as the porch swing slowly creaks out a rhythm in time with the night critters. I was thinking about pintos, but I finished the last can of grandma's chow-chow earlier. I would love to have some more, but I just don't quite know how to make the chow-chow like that. My grandmother, who passed away last year, had the secret recipe somewhere in her mind. I really hate that I didn't ask her for it. There just never seemed to be enough time. Now I spend time wondering what else I should have asked her. She was a master gardener, canner and cook, among other things. It will most likely take me a lifetime to learn all of the little things that she must have taken for granted, as I did her company. Then again, there are probably other things I am taking for granted right now, only to learn the err of my ways later when it is too late to do anything about it.

I guess life is a lot like a garden, with some good plants and more than a few weeds for good measure. You just never know when a late freeze might come, a drought begin or pests and disease take away all of your hard work. No matter how careful you are or how hard you try, you just can't prepare for every possible problem or untimely end that might be approaching. I guess as you grow older you learn to just take things for what they are — be it here today or gone tomorrow. My hope is that I will learn to just enjoy the warm sunshine and the cool rain of each day equally, without forgetting to appreciate them. Who knows what tomorrow brings? Today I will try to eat the fruits of labor and enjoy the evening for what it is. All we can do is hope for what will be.

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