Is this gorgeous? Yes! Is it delicious? Of course! But is it magic? Absolutely. And I am going to show you why.

The Garden Is Magic Because of the Gardener Who Grows It

If you have never experienced a gardener before, let me just tell you how much your world needs you to be the one.

You need to be the gardener of your circle. Your group needs you! Why? Because the garden will help you bring the magic to those around you in soul healing ways. It will change your entire world. The garden will heal your soul when you grow it, and it will heal the souls of those around you when you share. IT IS MAGIC!

Meet Mrs. Claire

Mrs. Claire and her daughter Jenny enrolled in the Kitchen Garden Academy for the do-over season, and she grew and grew and grew. Now, like the rest of us, she is trying to maximize every inch of available space in her beds for fall while keeping her summer veggies for as long as she can. It is hard to say to goodbye to eggplants when they are loaded in fruit. I get it. But as her garden coach, she needs me to steer her in the direction that I know is best. So we scheduled a visit to Mrs. Claire’s backyard to help her make those tough decisions.

But it was so much more than that. It always is. The garden is magic like that.

We got to talking and digging in to what was the truest desires of Mrs. Claire’s garden and her family shined through and through. Her husband is getting ready to retire. Her daughter is gardening with her. She and her sister are trading plants, and she is growing like she could have never imagined.

What really blew her away was her ability to grow a Cucuzza squash, using her wooden fence for a trellis to save space. What she really couldn’t believe is that she could grow an heirloom vegetable that she grew up eating in her New Orleans home as a young girl. And what she still can’t get over is that she could do it with seeds that have been saved from a New Orleans garden since 1938. These could be the same seeds her momma cooked with. These seeds cannot be bought. This plant is one that most people have never heard of, but Mrs. Claire’s Italian momma cooked Cucuzza squash all summer long, and now she is able to do the same exact thing for her family. And it brings her so much joy!

In fact, before I left, Mrs Claire gifted me with a Cucuzza squash from her garden with the recipe that she grew up eating and now cooks for her family. Cucuzza casserole. This tremendous gift is not lost on me. In fact it is inspiring. It is a beautiful reminder of what really matters in this life. Family, tradition, gathering around the table, and making memories that will last a lifetime.

This squash has now been passed on to this Cajun girl who had never heard of it before, and it is now become a tradition that I never want to lose. I want to gather my family around the table and serve Cucuzza squash like Mrs. Claire’s Italian family, and the Soprano’s, and the other Italian families that we love to see enjoying a family meal. You know that feeling. We all know that feeling. It is family. It is tradition. It is memories. And I want every single part of it.

I came home and prepared the casserole, following her recipe, and I gathered my husband and my children around the table, and I made memories. We laughed and we talked and next time I’m inviting extended family, boyfriends, neighbors, and anyone else I can think of because THIS IS THE SECRET! It is the magic of the garden.

IT IS THE WAY TO HEAL YOUR SOUL NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD.

Cucuzza casserole was a hit, but do you know the best part? The best part is that I get to do it again and again and again because my garden is full of veggies and is full of the potential of memories and tradition and laughter and family. It is what we were created for as mommas….to love and nurture and cultivate the goodness in our families, in our world. And the garden makes it so easy.

When we share a basket of veggies….