May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. Psalm 126:5-6
Last night we gathered at my dad's for supper. Following the meal, in the cool evening air, we lit a fire and roasted marshmallows. It was a kind of celebratory requiem for summer and an ushering in of fall. The children giggled and played. The adults chatted. And, everyone savored the sweet ooey-gooey-ness of burnt sugar on a stick.
I love the summer, so the transition to fall always makes me feel sad. Watching the plants wither and the leaves fall to the ground, I lament that this only means the cold and barren months of winter are just around the corner. But, as I look back on this summer, there is much for which to be thankful.
The tomatoes we planted and nurtured finally got ripe! The combination of Mater Magic fertilizer in the soil and Tums put in the water every other day (for calcium) and moving the planter boxes close to the house seemed to ward off the blossom end rot and end the war on squirrels we'd always battled in previous years. We also had a healthy crop of cherry tomatoes, which came up voluntarily as remnants of last year's tomato attempt. In all, I froze about 6 quarts of tomatoes, made one large pot of chili with fresh tomatoes, and Kevin has had numerous tomato sandwiches.
We had 7 okra plants that produced 4-6 okra about every other day. I started an okra bowl. What I picked, I washed, cut, and laid out on a sheet to freeze. Then, I added it to the bowl. We now have a quart of okra in the freezer.
After two attempts to plant pinto beans and one raid by a hungry rabbit, we did manage to get about half a dozen bean plants to grow. Just two weeks ago, I harvested and dried those beans. We only got about a cup, but we can add them to a larger pot.
Our squash didn't do as well as we'd hope, but we did get about 4 or 5. Nothing beats the taste of fried squash in the summer!
We picked a good number of cucumbers. I don't know exactly how many. We ate cucumber sandwiches and garnished several meals with vinegar pickles. Mmmm, mmmm!
I do not want to forget the many raspberries I picked in July. So yummy! The plants are well established now, so we have every hope of increasing the crop next summer.
Now that the crops are ending, our conversation has turned to what worked well, what didn't work well, and what we should do next year. We have quite a large backyard, so the consensus seems to be to plant more. And, if we can figure out a way to build some raised beds, I think we're going to give it a try.
Something we're learning to do this year is to think more of our home as a homestead. What can we produce for ourselves right here? It's a question we should all be trying to answer, whether we live on a farm, in the city, in a house or in an apartment. We didn't produce any food in epic amounts this year, but the small amount we grew did keep us from buying some things in the store. That saves resources on many levels. We didn't spray any pesticides on our garden, so we kept chemicals out of the air and groundwater. We mainly used rain barrels to water all the plants, which saved water we would have had to purchase from the city. Planting just a few vegetable plants can go a long way toward saving money and caring for our environment.
So, as the air gets colder, I'll savor the flavors of summer that are cryogenically suspended in my freezer and give thanks for the foods that were harvested right here in our back yard. I raise my charred marshmallow to toast the season...here's to next summer!
Last night we gathered at my dad's for supper. Following the meal, in the cool evening air, we lit a fire and roasted marshmallows. It was a kind of celebratory requiem for summer and an ushering in of fall. The children giggled and played. The adults chatted. And, everyone savored the sweet ooey-gooey-ness of burnt sugar on a stick.
I love the summer, so the transition to fall always makes me feel sad. Watching the plants wither and the leaves fall to the ground, I lament that this only means the cold and barren months of winter are just around the corner. But, as I look back on this summer, there is much for which to be thankful.
The tomatoes we planted and nurtured finally got ripe! The combination of Mater Magic fertilizer in the soil and Tums put in the water every other day (for calcium) and moving the planter boxes close to the house seemed to ward off the blossom end rot and end the war on squirrels we'd always battled in previous years. We also had a healthy crop of cherry tomatoes, which came up voluntarily as remnants of last year's tomato attempt. In all, I froze about 6 quarts of tomatoes, made one large pot of chili with fresh tomatoes, and Kevin has had numerous tomato sandwiches.
We had 7 okra plants that produced 4-6 okra about every other day. I started an okra bowl. What I picked, I washed, cut, and laid out on a sheet to freeze. Then, I added it to the bowl. We now have a quart of okra in the freezer.
After two attempts to plant pinto beans and one raid by a hungry rabbit, we did manage to get about half a dozen bean plants to grow. Just two weeks ago, I harvested and dried those beans. We only got about a cup, but we can add them to a larger pot.
Our squash didn't do as well as we'd hope, but we did get about 4 or 5. Nothing beats the taste of fried squash in the summer!
We picked a good number of cucumbers. I don't know exactly how many. We ate cucumber sandwiches and garnished several meals with vinegar pickles. Mmmm, mmmm!
I do not want to forget the many raspberries I picked in July. So yummy! The plants are well established now, so we have every hope of increasing the crop next summer.
Now that the crops are ending, our conversation has turned to what worked well, what didn't work well, and what we should do next year. We have quite a large backyard, so the consensus seems to be to plant more. And, if we can figure out a way to build some raised beds, I think we're going to give it a try.
Something we're learning to do this year is to think more of our home as a homestead. What can we produce for ourselves right here? It's a question we should all be trying to answer, whether we live on a farm, in the city, in a house or in an apartment. We didn't produce any food in epic amounts this year, but the small amount we grew did keep us from buying some things in the store. That saves resources on many levels. We didn't spray any pesticides on our garden, so we kept chemicals out of the air and groundwater. We mainly used rain barrels to water all the plants, which saved water we would have had to purchase from the city. Planting just a few vegetable plants can go a long way toward saving money and caring for our environment.
So, as the air gets colder, I'll savor the flavors of summer that are cryogenically suspended in my freezer and give thanks for the foods that were harvested right here in our back yard. I raise my charred marshmallow to toast the season...here's to next summer!