In many ways, this is a fun time of year to me. It's so rewarding to harvest food we've grown, and it tastes soooooo much better than what we can buy in the store. Besides that, we know exactly where it has come from, and I'm pretty sure it's healthier besides. No picking food early and letting it ripen without the vitamins from the sun, no pesticides, no msg added.
We had lots and lots of broccoli this year. We ate big messes of it everyday (we all love it!) and I froze several gallons for later. I'm newly amazed every year at how much greener our broccoli is than the fresh (or frozen) broccoli we buy in the store. Green is good--it means vitamins, right?
We're really enjoying the cucumbers right now and everybody joins in on the bean snapping parties we keep having.
Yes, even Tyrell! He wants to be right in the middle of everything. If you eat canned beans at our house this winter, I apologize in advance if you get one with a bite mark in it! :)
Snapping beans makes me think of my Grandma who passed away nearly four years ago because I spent innumerable hours snapping beans in my childhood with her. One day as I had many beans to can, I pulled out her pressure canner which I am storing for my mom so I could have two canners going at once. When I opened the book to make sure the directions were the same as my canner, I saw her handwriting with the page numbers of some of the things she cans most often and little notes summarizing for herself: green beans 10 # for 25 minutes. That brought tears to my eyes that I had to look through for the next few minutes loading the canner.
As much as I'm enjoying the harvest of these vegetables, I'm especially relishing the memories we are making as a family when we work, talk, and laugh together
We had lots and lots of broccoli this year. We ate big messes of it everyday (we all love it!) and I froze several gallons for later. I'm newly amazed every year at how much greener our broccoli is than the fresh (or frozen) broccoli we buy in the store. Green is good--it means vitamins, right?
We're really enjoying the cucumbers right now and everybody joins in on the bean snapping parties we keep having.
Yes, even Tyrell! He wants to be right in the middle of everything. If you eat canned beans at our house this winter, I apologize in advance if you get one with a bite mark in it! :)
Snapping beans makes me think of my Grandma who passed away nearly four years ago because I spent innumerable hours snapping beans in my childhood with her. One day as I had many beans to can, I pulled out her pressure canner which I am storing for my mom so I could have two canners going at once. When I opened the book to make sure the directions were the same as my canner, I saw her handwriting with the page numbers of some of the things she cans most often and little notes summarizing for herself: green beans 10 # for 25 minutes. That brought tears to my eyes that I had to look through for the next few minutes loading the canner. 
As much as I'm enjoying the harvest of these vegetables, I'm especially relishing the memories we are making as a family when we work, talk, and laugh together
mmmmm! Wish I was there to eat all those garden treats! Yum! Marcy
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a special sort of connection for those sort of tasks that helped weave your childhood. What a wonderful gift to run across those notes!
ReplyDeleteOkay, you are making me want to plant our side yard (been seriously contemplating that...and chickens).
ReplyDeleteMarcy--wish you were here to help eat them too! :) And my kiddos really want Nathan and Mya and Adi and Isaiah to "come over and go swimming with us"! :)
ReplyDeleteLorri--it really was a fun blessing in the middle of the work!
Kat--It's a lot of work, but the reward is worth it, isn't it? Besides, the kiddos help with a lot of the work! ;)
I'm very impressed (and envious!)
ReplyDeleteBut I love your concluding remarks. It's not entirely about the food. It's about the family and the memories you are making. That's just plain awesome, that's what!
Carrie--isn't it interesting that it took me remembering my Grandma to realize it's not entirely about the food?! But you're so right--it IS awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing!! I didn't succeed with my broccoli this year. Cucumbers yes but my beans have only produced enough for one meal so far. I have a lot to learn from you!
ReplyDelete