updates

I haven't updated in quite some time, life has been very very busy here this summer. I spend my week working all day, getting home around 5:30 and usually throwing something on the grill as well as grabbing whatever veggies are available. Weekends have been spent out fishing or camping or else at home canning whatever I find in my path :-) It has been busy for sure, but well worth it, especially as I watch my cupboards begin to fill up. Later this week I will update on my totals so far.

Canning this summer has been pretty fun actually. I have been visiting www.gardenweb.com which has several vegetable forums as well as a harvest forum. I have found the most delicious recipes there. My two favorites are a salsa recipe and an Apple Pie Jam recipe. They are so delicious I can't seem to make enough!

Here are just a few fun pics from this summer . . ..


I guess you can't really see it on here but this was a huge bumblebee coated in pollen in my Zucchini plant. It is wonderful to see them, definately more this year then last year. With more people using organic principles and less pesticides, it seems they are coming around a bit more. I was sure happy to see him!

This cute little yellow bird visits the garden daily. He is so tiny that he is actually just resting there on a chard leaf. Hes quite cute! I love sharing the garden with him.

Dinner one night, this was all of our homemade organic yummy delicious food! How's that for a descriptive sentance lol. We had bbq'd chicken (courtesy of safeway) sliced cucumbers, zucchini - parmeson bread, sauteed garlic and chard, homemade salsa and pickles and the leftover apples from canning became pie. Nothing so good as whole healthy foods. I feel blessed to have them to give to my family, and I sure wish that others would see how simple it is!

Salsa ~ Beautiful jars of salsa, this is the best ever. I can't seem to make enough because Katie keeps opening jars and once one is open . . . its all over with :)

One day of canning, This was beans, applie pie jam, and I think veggie soup? I don't remember.

This was part of todays work. This weekend we put up 12 more quarts of tomatos, 2 pints sloppy joe sauce, 4 quarts tomato juice, 9 more pints salsa, 8 jars raspberry jelly, 7 pints applesauce, 7 pints apple pie jam, 4 quarts of spaghetti sauce and 7 more jars of tomato-garlic soup.

That should suffice for a weekend :-)

Not much prettier then raspberry jam

Todays applesauce, raspberry jelly and apple pie jam.

Now - I am exhausted so . . . better updates later!