Who needs a farmers market?

Picture from Nonna Maria's Facebook Page

For some people a garden might consist of grass, some flowers, and maybe a few shrubs. In an Italian household, however,  the garden is really a farm. When it comes to a garden we don't mess around.

As a child, I used to love going to my Nonnos garden. It was like a jungle to explore in. As time has gone on, the garden has not lost its integrity and still amazes me even as an adult. There are tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, herbs, beans, figs, the list could go on forever.

In order to keep the garden running, my Nonno has a specific system. He uses spare wood to make stands to tie the vines against in order to make sure they don't fall over. He uses recycled water to water the veggies. Everything he needs is lined up and ready to use when it is needed. He has taken caring for his garden as an art.

Nonno takes a lot of pride in his garden. There are so many vegetables that sometimes we have to get creative on what to make or he pawns them off to people that live around him.  If people go to visit his house, they leave with a doggie bag of produce from the garden.