Thankful for a Good Harvest

This year when the clients from Moravian West sit down for their Thanksgiving dinner they’ll be thankful in a new way.  The vegetables that accompany the turkey will taste fresher, and the pumpkin pie will be a little more sweet.  That’s just one of the many beautiful things that has come from a harvest season following a summer of gardening in their backyard. 

This summer the residents rolled up their sleeves and got down to gardening when a new garden box was built behind their house. Clients Violet L. and Darin H. had previously been master gardeners and were excited to exercise their green thumbs.  It didn’t take long before the soil filled box was full of sprouts that soon turned into a plentiful garden of tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, green peppers and pumpkins. The clients were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor when they picked the vegetables and turned them into delicious treats like fried zucchini, zucchini bread and crisp, fresh vegetables.  

At 85 years old and in a wheelchair, Violet will tell you that gardening is ‘more interesting’ now than it may have been in the past, but she still loves everything about it and was grateful to return to one of her favorite pastimes. She’ll tell you she has a great appreciation for her Thanksgiving dinner and the vegetables that are on the table because she knows the time involved to grow them. Violet and the other clients at Moravian West are excited for the arrival of next spring and a new gardening season, but for now their thankful for a good harvest.