Both the squirrels and I...

As I was organizing the freezer last night, I couldn't help but think of how this must be how a squirrel feels...I was so proud of what we've accomplished this year in producing some of our own food and preserving it! I've already bragged on the canned goods, but now it's time for the freezer to show off! :-)

Since we didn't have a pressure canner until just recently, the veggies had to be frozen, thus the huge amount of black-eyed peas in the freezer. I would have preferred to can them and I'm seriously considering thawing them to can sometime soon. Anyway, without further adieu:

Black-eyed peas - 17 bags (From our garden and the university's community gardens)
Summer Squash - 7 bags (Again, from our garden and the university garden)
Mashed Potatoes - 4 family serving sized bags (from our garden...we've already eaten 4 servings /blush/)
Onions - 8 bags chopped and ready for cooking (from our garden)
English Peas - 2 bags (from our garden...hoping to grow more next year)
Green Beans - 2 bags (from our garden...I think I've decided that bush beans grow much better here, so that'll be our plan next spring)
Carrots - 7 bags (and more in the garden)
Corn on the Cob - 5 bags with 5-6 ears per bag (from a farmer's stand on the way to my parent's house...about 45 miles away)
Okra & Squash for Frying - 6 huge, stuffed, gallon sized bags with more okra coming in every day!
Eggs - 5 dozen frozen in ice cube trays for winter baking (from our hens)

Almost all of this is sealed in Food Saver bags to keep freezer burn to a minimum.

Homestead Man and I set a goal this morning to have a small pen ready for two calves by the end of the weekend. I'm hoping that the sale of the first calf with pay for the processing of the second calf into beef to fill our meat freezer...but then that is a long-term goal, isn't it?

Our cup runneth over...

More pickles today!! Squash pickles, cucumber pickles, and pickled okra.

When we got home from the land...we found FOUR eggs in the coop (one of which was a tiny egg), which means that Lucy has FINALLY come into production! I was beginning to think she'd never lay an egg. We were pretty ecstatic about that!

We also had an exciting development at the land (aside from me being bitten by red ants which stings like you wouldn't believe!). My dad came down to look at the place and he and Homestead Man started talking about barns...by the end of the day, dad had said he thought he had the materials just laying around his ranch and would be glad to see them put to good use and they'd drawn up plans!!! So, instead of saving up for several years to put a good barn out on the farm, it looks like we'll be able to build one out there this year, virtually for free!!

I am so thankful for the way blessings have been raining down on our household lately, and truly believe it is because of our new commitment to pay cash for purchases and pay off our debt. The Bible talks of how if we manage our money in a Godly way, He will return it to us in good measure, shaken down, and running over. That's exactly how He's blessed us lately!

Blackeyed Peas...

I've shelled A LOT of blackeyed peas this summer! Here's a photo of the latest bag full.



In other news...my mother-in-law just gave me her pressure canner!! I'm dropping it off with the extension agency tomorrow to have it checked out then I can start canning veggies!!

A few more photos...

Cucumbers gone WILD!

Cucumbers gone WILD!! LOL!

The garden is looking great! In this photo you can see cucumbers, okra, blackeyed peas, and some wildflowers that bring in the bees like crazy. Homestead Man will be tilling this into a much, much, much bigger garden later today!

NOTE: I meant to say that Homestead Man would be tilling AROUND this garden today to enlarge it. We certainly won't be tilling up this area! I think we've at least doubled our garden space this afternoon!!! Fall garden, here we come!

Zucchini Bread

Yesterday, while tending a neighbor's garden (they're away on vacation), the girls and I discovered THIS hiding under a huge leaf:



See that tiny round thing in the lower left??? It's a quarter...ummmmhmmmmm...that's one GINORMOUS zuke, people!

(Also, please note that said neighbor gave her blessing for harvesting any veggies that were ready...and this bad boy was definitely ready!)

So naturally, tonight I made zucchini bread! I tried a new recipe that contains pineapple, walnuts, and raisins along with the zukes...can you say healthy...and also sneaking in nutritious ingredients for two children...and YUM!

In the interest of NOT loosing this recipe, here it is:
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001330zucchini_bread.php

Funny how my blog is also a great place for me to collect ideas!! ;-) Oh, and sweet neighbor, if you are reading, you will have a loaf of zucchini bread waiting for your return to Okie land!

Let's EAT!

Here's a shot of our side dish last night sizzling in the frying pan! All from the garden...I love summer!

Also, we got two eggs today! I think it's Laverne and Lucinda that are our egg makers! Perhaps I should have named the others with "L" names? LOL! Here's a shot of all our eggs to date (laid out in chronological order, no less!).



These are sitting in a large egg carton to give you some scale. Of course, since these are first eggs, they are expected to be a bit small. I'm pretty sure the two light brown ones are from Lucinda and the dark brown are from Laverne.

Pot-A-to, Pot-ah-to...

We dug up our potatoes this morning because the tops were absolutely eaten ALIVE with potato bugs. Here's what the tops looked like:


Compare that with the photo I posted earlier this month:


If anyone has some organic solutions for potato bugs, I'm listening!

Anywho...here's the harvest this morning plus the remaining onions:


Anyone out there freezing potatoes? I'd love to hear your tips!

Could you pass me a tissue?

Take a gander at what I've been up to the last two nights:


Yup! Onions! LOTS OF ONIONS! I decided to go ahead and pull the remaining onions and freeze them. No one at my house will eat them raw, but we cook with them a lot, so freezing is perfect! I diced them into the size we generally prefer then slurped all the air out and froze them in the handy-dandy Food Saver bags to store in the freezer. (You don't need to blanch onions.)

I've still got 23 onions on the back porch waiting for their turn!

Humpday Harvest!!!

This is the first of a series of blog entries to be published each and every Wednesday (unless I'm on vacation) detailing harvests from the week. (A good idea, no?)

I dig up potatoes as I need them...I'd say we've harvested around 35 potatoes this week.

We've also harvested enough lettuce and snap peas for 4 family sized salads. (Sorry...no photo...I'll do better I promise!)

Lastly, I ate two delicious blueberries yesterday!! They were so delicious that my resolve to raise my own berries was renewed. I originally planted three blueberry bushes. One did not make it through the nasty, icy winter we had. The other two are so tiny still that I had considered giving up on the great blueberry quest...until yesterday! YUMMY!

(Note: I took a photo of the blueberries, but my camera battery died (DRATS!), so I'll have to post it for you later.)

A bit of exciting news from the West garden...the cantelope are blooming, profusely. I can't wait to sink my teeth into some home grown cantelope! I'll take that over a sticky ol' watermellon anyday! The only problem is that I believe I *may* have overdone my planting. Anyone know how to preserve cantelope??????? :-/