When I planted spinach in my garden this spring, I wasn’t expecting it to become one of my most productive crops. Now every few days, I find myself heading home with another basket full of fresh green leaves.

It’s one of those small things that brings me an unreasonable amount of happiness.

I’ve been adding it to omelets, tucking it into sandwiches, and tossing handfuls into salads. But one of my favorite ways to use it has been in a simple garlic pasta that comes together in less than thirty minutes and with just a few simple ingredients and a generous handful of fresh spinach from the garden.

The best part is that every time I make it, I think about where the spinach came from.

A few months ago, those leaves were tiny seeds pressed into the soil. Since then, they’ve survived rainstorms, warm days, cool nights, and more than a few visits from me checking to see if they had grown yet.

Now they’re dinner.

That never stops feeling a little magical.

I have a feeling this won’t be the last spinach recipe I share this summer. The garden is still producing more than I can keep up with, and every harvest basket seems a little fuller than the last.

Not a bad problem to have.