We pickled 29 quarts of mixed veggies. Yum!
In our life this week…
Again, this week has been all about preserving the harvest. We pickled beets, froze tomatoes, made applesauce, froze apple slices for crisps, froze raspberries, and pickled vegetables.
We experienced some big excitement this week was when our area was overrun by a drug team that found marijuana growing in a nearby field. It smelled like skunk, and now I wonder about all the times I’ve been smelling skunk at night….
In our homeschool …
We did some book learning, but not as much as I hoped. Between the preserving, a dentist visit, and shopping, we had a lot of time ‘off’. However, each day everyone does math and music and I try to read our Dutch story. The rest, well, we’re doing the best we can.
But the girls did learn more about canning—cleaning the jars, preparing the produce, packing it into the jars, making brine.
Our family is involved in homeschool soccer for the first time this year, and I hope it will be a good experience. In any case, it’s exercise.
In our garden…
We’re harvesting tomatoes, peppers, apples, raspberries, chard, beets, and turnips, as well as almost everything else.
Three times we covered the garden to prepare for a frost, and each time it was a false alarm. Crawling back into my bed early in the morning is such a treat when I’ve been expecting to stand outside in the dark, spraying the raspberry bush to minimize frost damage!
The flowers are still thriving like last week, but the trees and the sedum are starting to turn red. Some woods nearby seem to have lost all their leaves already!
In the kitchen… Tomato soup made with salsa soup stock. Orange-flavored pudding with raspberries and chocolate chips. Gluten-free molasses oat bread. An inexpensive roast, slow-cooked in a cast-iron pan. Butternut squash. Potato soup. Homemade French fries. Breakfast apple crisp. Stewed cinnamon pears. Corn pancakes. And, of course, all the preserving.
Some of my favorite things were…
- Finding a few dozen extra canning jars stored away in the barn. Likely we will need them.
- Eating apples straight from the tree.
- Happy people.
- Warm, sunny weather.
Questions/thoughts I have… Knowing criminals have been active nearby subtly shifts my entire perspective.
Fitness… Most days I did not walk enough, but last night I used the treadmill to get to 10,000 steps. Standing in the kitchen does not provide many steps, although it is tiring. Most days I ate well and rested adequately, and one day I did some calisthenics. In a few weeks, the harvest will be in and life will go back to normal.
Some of the things I’ve been working on…
- Schoolwork.
- Harvesting and preserving.
- Reading.
- Keeping the house as neat as possible with tomatoes, squashes, pumpkins, and melons lying around.
We’re watching and playing…
The girls watched Disney’s Little House, from YouTube. Apparently it was not much like the books. My son discovered the Amazon 1c movies.
I’m reading… Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. I finished One Thousand Gifts and The HomeScholar Guide to College Admission and Scholarships, both of which I reviewed, and Made in Heaven. I’m still reading The Passionate Mom and Saving Leonardo.
Reading Aloud… The girls and I have begun to read Psalms and are continuing with In de Zoete Suikerbol. The Little Misses and I love Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. It’s such an inspiring book!
When my husband is home for meals (very rare these days) we read Acts.
I’m grateful for …. Policemen. Lots of delicious food. The treadmill. Books that make me think.
Quote or link to share…. Have you ever read Ann Voskamp’s blog? Today’s post is wonderful, but each one is, in some way.
This post is linked to Kris’s Weekly Wrap Up .
Wow, a drug team and marijuana growing nearby, that would be some excitement. Glad they found it and got it cleared up.
Sounds like a good week overall. Lots of work with the canning, but you will be greatly rewarded this winter. 🙂
What a wonderful time of the year! I have to remind myself that these last warm days need to be taken advantage of. And, wow, what excitement you had. I did not know it smelled. That can’t be pleasant. Things here are going well. I really need to pick up the pace in my packing this week.