July was a yummy month full peas, spinach and a few strawberries. By the end of the month we were also enjoying such a bountiful raspberry harvest that we had to call in neighbors to relieve our bushes of their red, juicy goodness while we were in Georgia.
We left the land of Georgia peaches to come home to boxes of Idaho peaches, which were quickly preserved for a winter treat.
August was also produced an abundance of beans, onions, a few beets, the best cucumbers I'd ever had and so many tomatoes that we couldn't eat them fast enough.
The daily picking of Sun Sugar Tomatoes lasted nearly a full month before I pulled the plants, not willing to fight the frost for them. I will never plant red cherry tomatoes again. These were heavenly and I'm pretty sure I will crave them right up until the next harvest
I decided to face my fear of the pressure canner and made myself bottle the beans this year. It was the first year that I was actually home when the beans became ripe instead of missing the perfect picking to find dried out, oversized, undesirable beans that only fed the compost pit, so I had to be a big girl and get those perfect gems in jars.
Overcoming the pressure canner boost my ego to the point that I made myself some bottled stew. It took a great amount of reading, planning, and tweaking, but I finally gave it a go. I openly admit that the look of cooked meat in a glass jar is not very appetizing but the taste by far outweighs the looks.
Delicious! I have loved having a bottle ready to open on days that I haven't thought ahead enough to make dinner.
The daily picking of Sun Sugar Tomatoes lasted nearly a full month before I pulled the plants, not willing to fight the frost for them. I will never plant red cherry tomatoes again. These were heavenly and I'm pretty sure I will crave them right up until the next harvest
I decided to face my fear of the pressure canner and made myself bottle the beans this year. It was the first year that I was actually home when the beans became ripe instead of missing the perfect picking to find dried out, oversized, undesirable beans that only fed the compost pit, so I had to be a big girl and get those perfect gems in jars.
Overcoming the pressure canner boost my ego to the point that I made myself some bottled stew. It took a great amount of reading, planning, and tweaking, but I finally gave it a go. I openly admit that the look of cooked meat in a glass jar is not very appetizing but the taste by far outweighs the looks.
Delicious! I have loved having a bottle ready to open on days that I haven't thought ahead enough to make dinner.
September melons are divine! The cantaloupe and watermelon were the perfect sweetness and tasted so much better than what we usually find in the stores.
With the weather cooling, it was time to clear the garden and bring in the remainder of our spoils.
My helpers were quite entertaining as they danced around and made up a harvest dance and song to go with the day. I appreciated their help so very much! While they clipped the tops and roots of onions and carrots, I cleared the weeds in preparation for a fall tilling of the ground.
With a quick wash and air dry, and Hyrum making water fountains for a good 20 minutes, our carrots were ready for winter storage. I had tried to store carrots in buckets of sand last year following direct instructions from a neighbor, "store them in buckets of sand". After throwing away a moldy, stinky mess in the spring (partly because I completely forgot about the buckets), I decided to get better instructions. Four layers of damp peat moss and carefully placed carrots later, I'm ready to try again.
When I built a sturdy wooden box for Kellie about 16 years ago, I had no idea that it would come back to me and after sitting in the guest room for several years, it would become the perfect winter box for carrot storage.
For future reference:
* Damp peat moss lets the carrots have moisture when they need it and absorbs moisture when they don't (pretty smart stuff).
* Don't let carrots touch each other or the sides of the box.
* Store in cool, dark place where I will remember that they are there.
I also want to give kudos to the army of workers that spend all spring and summer pollinating our trees, bushes and garden plants. None of this would happen without them! As we were clearing our fall harvest, the bushes bordering our garden were humming as our friends gathered the last of the seasons pollen for winter storage of their own. I'm so grateful to my neighbors who have multiple hives all withing two miles of us. They are a huge part of our success.
Check out the pollen on his legs! I hope to have the dedication of a bee in my own endeavors.
With a quick wash and air dry, and Hyrum making water fountains for a good 20 minutes, our carrots were ready for winter storage. I had tried to store carrots in buckets of sand last year following direct instructions from a neighbor, "store them in buckets of sand". After throwing away a moldy, stinky mess in the spring (partly because I completely forgot about the buckets), I decided to get better instructions. Four layers of damp peat moss and carefully placed carrots later, I'm ready to try again.
When I built a sturdy wooden box for Kellie about 16 years ago, I had no idea that it would come back to me and after sitting in the guest room for several years, it would become the perfect winter box for carrot storage.
For future reference:
* Damp peat moss lets the carrots have moisture when they need it and absorbs moisture when they don't (pretty smart stuff).
* Don't let carrots touch each other or the sides of the box.
* Store in cool, dark place where I will remember that they are there.
I also want to give kudos to the army of workers that spend all spring and summer pollinating our trees, bushes and garden plants. None of this would happen without them! As we were clearing our fall harvest, the bushes bordering our garden were humming as our friends gathered the last of the seasons pollen for winter storage of their own. I'm so grateful to my neighbors who have multiple hives all withing two miles of us. They are a huge part of our success.
Check out the pollen on his legs! I hope to have the dedication of a bee in my own endeavors.
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