8.24.2008

the harvest

My heart is happy.

I never really understood that little phrase until I "grew up." Today, though, I keep looking around at things that really, truly do make my heart happy.

It started last year when I decided to become a little more domestic and attempt a garden. Some things grew - almost 50 perfectly perfect pumpkins, lots of tomatoes.

Some things didn't- 5 rows of corn, all afflicted with "corn smut."
An accidental planting of the hottest peppers on the chart (don't remember the name) also resulted in an accidental eating of the hottest peppers by a then 1-year-old. The gophers liked my garden as much as I did and the sunflowers created the perfect backdrop for my entire backyard.

On a whim -call it a horticulture high- I even attempted canning. My shelves made room for peaches and salsa. So good. And, SO much easier than I expected.

Harvest.

It is here again. I love it. This year's garden has done well. Few pumpkins, better corn. Heaven reaching sun flowers and green beans that will be pureed into baby food. The gophers found the neighbor's garden instead of mine. I planted, what I call my "salsa box." Everything is ready to be chopped, diced and sliced. The cilantro didn't grow (if anyone knows how to grow cilantro, I would love some tips) and the peppers have cross pollinated into a new breed, but who cares? They grew, and will be mixed up into jar after jar of homemade goodness.


Can I just tell you how happy I am that "organic" is in? Organic is an excuse to not have to buy pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Organic is an excuse for the rampant weeds that I have officially declared a truce with. Organic means that our corn may not be big & plump, but I can be proud serving my children "all natural" produce.

We went to the fruit orchards owned by our church. After picking for others, we were able to pick peaches for ourselves. The butterflies in my stomach are all a-flutter thinking of making my mom's peach pie, ok- maybe the excitement is more about eating the pie than making it- but yum-oh.

Saturday, I spent the entire morning at my in-laws taking these:



Off of these:



Then, I spent the entire afternoon doing this:




Sunday, I let the kids mash up all of these berries and added untold amounts of sugar to make freezer jam.



Today is peaches. Later this week will be the salsa.
I love it. Love it all. Hmmmm.....except maybe that one pesky problem.....



Remember the zucchini I mentioned a few weeks ago? It is still quite the prolific producer. How about a "My zucchini is bigger than your zucchini" contest? Details to come, and definitely a great prize. If you have zucchini in a garden- or maybe grandma's garden- let one of the little buggers just keep on growing. Measure it & take a photo to document it. Oooohhhh.....I am getting excited. This could be quite funny....I mean fun.



If you aren't excited for summer's end, lets indulge a little, shall we? Crunchy leaves. Hot fresh peach cobbler with ice cream on top and pumpkin rolls. Cool nights and caramel apples. The unmatchable smell of fall. It is in the air and I love it. Oh yes, most definitely on this Thankful Monday, my heart is ever so happy.



What are you thankful for today?

13 comments:

  1. Wow! Such an impressive crop! Our tomatoes and carrots did OK but everything else struggled this year.

    I'm finding myself grateful for the sunshine these days. As hot as summer is, I never forget that the gray days of winter are not too far ahead of us. I love spending a bit of time outside each days with my kids, exploring the yard and enjoying the warmth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. REALLY great harvest over there! I didn't fare so well over here...Okay, I really got nothing. :) Everything died. :)

    That's what the store is for, right?

    CONGRATS on so many wonderful things.

    ReplyDelete
  3. my dear husband ripped out--

    my beans, peas, 2 pepper plants, 3 rasberry starts and I'm sure a few onions

    when he *helped* me weed the garden.

    I'm grateful he didn't rip out anything else (however--the produce he did rip out were actually producing) I mean he could have pulled out a few brocolli starts and I wouldn't have cared--they aren't producing!

    However, we still have some out there--

    I'm thankful he tried to help.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'll stick with the garden theme, and say I'm thankful for beautiful eggplant, some corn, grapes, and tomatoes grown by my husband. (Amazing that all this good stuff can grow in our Georgia red clay.) I'm not as thankful for the squash...

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have Garden Envy.
    And I'm thankful that the schools reopened today, after being closed Thurs. & Fri. because of Tropical Storm Fay.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am thankful I get to start my garden next year (your's sounds so yummy, I am jealous!). I am thankful my husband is getting it all ready and we will see if we can keep it alive =)!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow you go chica!!
    I'm grateful for my hubby being safe this past weekend. That I can trust him in intense situations and that our love is forever. All these men come back and have to tell their wives, girlfriends of their 'actions' while they were gone. I'm grateful for trust.

    ReplyDelete
  8. How fun. I am so jealous. I can't wait to have my own garden. I am thankful today for my kids. I am thankful that MaKyra loves school and is so helpful at home. I am so thankful that Gabe's speech is improving. He has great things to tell us. I am grateful Parker loves Gabe and copies him all day. Very cute. Right now I am grateful Kyra is at school, Gabe is at speech therapy and Parker is being babysat by my sister. An hour to my self - too bad I have to spend it cleaning.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Today I am very thankful for the sweetest sister ever, who I know would do anything for me that she possibly could.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am grateful for good friends and an awesome family. I am constantly amazed at home great the people are in my life.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ooo! Makes me miss my Granny even more. This totally looks likes something she would have from her garden!

    I'm thankful for the memories of her, her strawberry jam & zucchini bread!

    ReplyDelete
  12. First, IM SO JEALOUS! You know that the Garden I was soooo excited about well bwt snow in June and this WIND! We were only left with...... butternut squash (maybe), potatoes (imagine that...) and ZUCCHINI!!!! So I am soooo up for this challenge. Bring it on girls!!! :) lol Maybe next year we will have a better harvest and not end up with so much zucchini bread. ha.

    (BTW, I had this horrible dream about you and Jason playing this REALLY mean trick on me (pain meds really make me dream CRAZY things). I was sooooo mad at Jason for doing some really bad stuff and I told him that I was going to tell you then all of a sudden you poked your head out dying laughing bc it was all a joke.... Random, I know. ;) Tell Jason, Im watching closely all these miles away. He better be on his best behavior. lol I seriously don't know where that one came from.)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Those peaches are beautiful! I want to can some too. Will you send me the info/address of the orchard. Am I too late?

    Thanks
    angiewycherly@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete