A New Season Brings Simple Joys

I find a joy so simple and pure in what many would consider too hard of work for a busy family of six.  It serves the opposite purpose in my heart and that of each and every one of us here on this land.  Something about planting, canning, and simply letting the kids be kids seems so much closer to the way things are really supposed to be!  We have gotten a good start on this new fall season, so do let me share pictures of what we've accomplished around here!

This here is the beginning of a fall crop for us.  I look forward to greens, cabbage, onions, brussel sprouts, carrots, and some winter lettuce varieties!  I hope to have the shelves full of fall's bounty!

I caught a cow!  Well, three actually.  The intended target (big yellow Mama) use to be quite capable, and thoroughly enjoyed, bullying me into fear of her.  Yes, she is mean, but I hold the upper hand now because I'm just simply not terrified anymore.

I must pause to share with you the pictures of these little ones helping start the garden.  What is fun for them and enjoyable for us to watch, also serves as lessons on how to work their land and be good stewards of what the Lord has given us.  In preparing our home and pantry, we prepare them along side us with priceless skills.  Even if never a survival necessity in their lives, they do not lose, because I know they too will carry this knowledge into their own families one day.

A little dirt NEVER hurt!  At least sister thought so while covering Cass in such!

Strike a pose....and get to work while you're at it kids!!! ;)

WE HAVE CARROTS!  These last minute finds from summer gave us all a great laugh!  So tiny and actually proved to be HOT as I believe they must have cross pollinated with the radishes planted behind them!

And one of my favorite accomplishments of all!  We have more pears than I'll ever be able to put up this year.  But so far, I've canned these as accidental pear honey (meant to be preserves), pear butter (Uh-mazing), and pears in syrup!  I'm excited to see just how many jars I can get put up before the harvest ends!  In this picture is one of the most special birthday gifts I've ever received.....my Grandma's food mills and some utensils, some of which has been passed down for more than one generation!  LOVE THEM and making the pear butter was a snap!  Something about preparing fruit, canning the fresh tastes we've gathered, and looking at these beautiful jars, brings me a peace and satisfaction I can't put into words!  Prepared?  Getting there.  Content?  Absolutely!

NOTE:  For a wonderful pear butter recipe, go here!

Are you serious Mom?

Lazy family evenings follow the hard work around this house!  Readers raise readers, right?

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.  Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her mean in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.  Proverbs 6:6-8

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.  Proverbs 4:23

Preserving Our Harvest....A Family Affair

A family that works together, plays together!  Around here we find so much joy and humor mixed in with the work behind our garden!  These kids so easily make us smile!  To help you understand just what I'm talking about, let me take you through these pictures of last night's 'work'!

No story could be complete without a 'before' picture.  So here's a snapshot of just some of the bounty!  The kids enjoy picking vegetables and bringing them in to me!  We have a few barbie doll squash buried in there and if you look closely you just might catch a glimpse of the giggles that accompanied the picking and sorting of some very crook-ed neck squash!

 

They've turned into awesome little helpers on the kitchen end of the harvest also!  Before I knew it, they were making and mixing the batter mix for the fried squash ON THEIR OWN!  Aiden knew exactly how he was flavoring and Gracie girl also did a great job although we did have to remove the Tony's seasoning from her little hands!  They even had their own little system of battering and shaking going on!



Aiden's favorite part of this is quoted as, "that I like to put it in the cornmeal".  And Gracie's favorite part was gutting the bell peppers of their center and seeds!  It was fun to watch, she was serious about it and sure knew how to get the job done!  And for the Eskimo gear.....well, your guess is as good as mine, but it sure makes for a cute picture and proof that my little girl is all about changing her clothes 10 times a day!  She's that girl that experiments with the outfits in her closet all day long, putting them to good use in the yard, garden, and pretending she's coon or hog hunting.....in her Sunday best!

Our first ever pepper sauce!  See how the bottom is still turning from bright green to the final result?  By this morning, all but the very bottom was the lighter green.  We stuffed the bottle with Cayenne peppers with their tops broken off, a couple of garlic cloves, and one banana pepper for some sweetness.  We boiled white vinegar and poured it in with a funnel.  We were sure to run hot water over the outside of the bottle first, to get it ready for the heat.  And I learned that as the peppers soak up the vinegar and expand, your sauce level falls, so I heated a little more vinegar and added it probably about an hour later.  This is our first try, so I will be sure to update this post on how it turns out!  Also, I would like to keep a few Cayennes on the plant until they turn red to add to the next batch for color!  This bottle first contained some red wine vinegar so it had a little plastic pour top!  I soaked the label off, washed, and now I have the perfect bottle for Pepper Sauce!

Anyone wondering where Aiden has gone in the last two pictures need wonder no more!  This poor, overworked farm boy!  The job of late night preserving just proved a little too labor intensive for this guy!  As for his sisters Tinkerbell blanket, I do plan to print and save this picture....just in case I need some leverage in his teen years!  As for Cass, he's tucked away in bed, quiet and cozy for the most part of this whole ordeal!

The after picture!  We have all varieties of blanched squash for use in stewing or any other recipe I choose.  We also made battered squash for frying, although I already see how next time I'll need to leave the bags with air so the pieces will better freeze separately.  We washed and cut our squash not too soon before the water was ready, poured in boiling water to blanch for 3 minutes, then into cold water with ice for about 5 minutes until cold again.  That stopped the hot water from cooking the veggies too much.  Then, we bagged and in the case of the squash to fry, we battered first in a mix of cornmeal, Tony's, garlic powder, and black pepper!  For the green peppers, we only blanched about 1 and 1/2 minutes, I figured since the pieces were smaller and thinner that would be a wise try.  And the directions for the pepper sauce are above.  This is our first round with freezing, so again I'll be sure to update this post at a later date with what has worked best and what improvements we will use next time!

 This was the harvest within the time of a week for our family.  With the rising price of food, you can't beat the economic sense behind this!  Even more important, I guarantee that these here vegetables will provide more wholesome, trustworthy, and safe nourishment for my family than anything we could buy even 'fresh' at the grocery story today.  But perhaps the most priceless part of it all is the time, work, and play spent as a family nourishing, harvesting, and storing these vegetables.  We're loving it.  Memories are being made, life lessons being learned, and family being strengthened.  Priceless!

I can't continue sharing without throwing a thank you note into this post for my sweet little sister.  I would say baby sister, but she's surely not that anymore!  This household and garden wouldn't be very functionable right now if it wasn't for her!  Other than a setback last week, I feel myself getting a little stronger each day.  It's slow going, but I am healing.  And in the process, my sister feels like Cinderella! :)  But as I keep reminding her......just think of how indebted I'm going to be for her services!  I say this with a laugh, as I am so thankful that she's been here to help us!  But maybe not as thankful as my husband and kids!

Aunt Nessie and Gracie girl!  Oh how she loves being right at her side!  Aren't they beautiful?

Cass and his silly Aunt "Na-nee"! He's taken right to her, it's so neat how they know who loves them even when they're so small!

 Now onto share a few pictures of the kids and our quickly growing litter of pups!

But wait first.....do you have service in here?  I think I have 4 bars!  Oh there we go, that's good reception!

Can you hear me now?  There's no better service than this service! ;)

And there's my boys......doing what they love best.....being boys!

A rare but priceless quiet moment around here!  Aiden loves to read!  I love to read!  Readers raise readers!  Camping out in the tent Aunt Nessie helped them build yesterday proved for some good quiet time in the middle of a scorching hot day!

And here's the big little puppies as they continue to grow!  Nessie's become quite attached to one of these little ones and not wanting to see us let him go!  The joys and sorrows in puppyland!

 And for a final thought of sweetness to share with you today.  Piled up on the couch as I try to balance healing and doing, I was reminded of just why I have nothing to complain about.  This sweet little face ran towards me with a smile that lit up my whole day.  The kind of smile that comes from the very inside out, that speaks of excitement and a growing self confidence.  And the daintiest little bouquet of flowers is thrust out into my hands accompanied by these words....

  "You the most boo-i-ful Mommy eh-er!"

And my day is perfected!  I love my kids.  I love our home.  I love this family.  So much to be thankful for.  Thank you Lord for every part of this perfect day!

And don't forget to stop by over at Raising Homemakers this week for some awesome giveaways!  It's their 1 year anniversary week and today's giveaways include some awesome parenting resources and great books from Doorposts!