Veggie primer

In spite of the mishaps, my first garden was a smashing success. To be exact, I harvested 9 carrots, 9 eggplants, 28 'Eight Ball' squash, 105 green beans, 8 peppers, 103 tomatoes, 17 yellow squash, and big bunches of basil leaves. The carrots and eggplants were my favorite ― the carrots because I grew them from seed, the eggplants because they were gorgeous.

The best part of the experience was being able to make good use of my produce. I whipped up pesto for friends, grilled eggplant like it was going out of style, and packed my freezer with 2-cup bags of chopped squash for that rainy day when I'm inspired to make zucchini bread.