Post-Harvest 2013

I suppose you noticed that I have been away from the blog since the first week of July!  Most of my time has been spent between the upstairs and downstairs kitchens here on the farm.  In spite of an unusually wet July, Lee was fortunate to have a productive garden.  Our harvesting began as soon as we returned from our July 4th vacation!  When I say that Lee had a garden, let me explain:  Lee does not believe in planting a small garden.  He plants INDUSTRIAL!  I know how much he loves cucumber pickles, but this year he went a bit overboard!  That garden produced a bushel of white cucumbers every other day for a period of three to four weeks!  I canned twenty-four quarts, his sister canned approximately the same, our neighbors were given cucumbers, our niece also canned many quarts until I finally announced, ENOUGH!  The remaining cucumbers were picked by our brother-in-law, who in turn, shared them with his congregation at church!  We were all relieved when the cukes were gone.

As if the cucumbers were not enough to keep me busy, the green beans, corn and zucchini reached maturity during the same period.  I am fortunate to have a separate kitchen in the basement that is set-up for harvesting and canning.  So it was, or seems that I only came out of the lower level during a period of one week to either sleep or eat!

As soon as we had these tasks completed, we made another trip to the beach to spend with my children and some of my grandchildren.  We can no longer combine the two families in the same beach house because our numbers have increased and the house would need to have an additional six bedrooms!  Even though we miss having them all together, we are able to have better quality time with each group.  Each week was special to both Lee and me.

Returning from that beach trip left no time again.  The tomatoes were ready to can, and there was more corn in the garden.  Our neighbors graciously shared three gallons of already picked blueberries, so once again I was allocated to the "canning zone" of our house to resume the role of freezing and canning, and producing jams for the winter.

Actually, I am not complaining.....I am elated to see Lee returning to a part of his life before his illness.  It brings him great joy to garden, and he helps me with the chore of all of those mentioned.  We feel so blessed to see him able to resume those activities that were unimaginable three years ago!  Looking at him today is seeing a return of Lee to the person he was prior to his illness in November 2009.  He is amazing!

Speaking of Lee, he just popped his head in the back door to remind me that he will be returning with a bushel of peaches, and some more tomatoes, and by the way, the okra is ready!

Oh well.......................................................................................More Later........................

Brenda