I got a delicious gift the other day. It was garden-grown herbs and veggies that brought me back to last summer, when I had a real garden and a housemate who got freshly grown goodies from her job.

Here it is… in case you can’t tell, it includes several kinds of basil and mint (including pineapple mint — who knew such a union was possible?) Oh, yeah – there were flowers, too. Zinnias! If that doesn’t scream summer, I don’t know what does.

This is what our garden looked like June-ish of last year. It had organically grown squash, broccoli, kale, collards, spinach and lettuces, tomatoes, zinnias, bachelor’s buttons, cosmos, and a few other things. They were pretty good, but plagued by various pests and anyone who tried to go down there to harvest or weed was immediately set upon by rapacious mosquitoes (they were the only ones I’ve ever known to go for the face). The herb garden was on higher ground, with more goodies and fewer varmints.

Since I’m no longer in the “country” (i.e. Brookland, D.C.), I can’t do this anymore. All I have is a potted lemon balm plant and some herbs with joint custody on a friend’s balcony… oh, and I own about 1/200th of a farm in Virginia.

And here’s a delightful bowl of farmers’ market and garden-picked fruits and veggies from a friend’s place last summer. I was especially enamored with the yellow tomato.

Ready for you close up, Mr. Tomato?

And here are some garden picks, with Sponge Bob guarding them, of course. What, you don’t have a plastic cartoon character watching over your produce??

This concludes last year’s garden tour. I can’t wait to use the rest of the veggies and herbs…. although I do love walking by my kitchen counter and getting whiffs of summers past.