🍅 Bounty 🍆

 Oh Friends~

You have to see this!

I know we, each of us, live in different areas,

but if you look, look closely, it's there.

There is bounty all around us.

Summer can sure be long and hot.

The longer days can become wearisome

and our bodies can certainly tire.

Or is that just me?

(Cayenne)

As many of you know, I grow a garden each year.

It seems by February,

I am raring to get it going and wanting to plant seeds

despite the icy temperatures out of doors.

This year was different.

We had the summer kitchen flood in January,

then the mess to clean up when the roof was repaired in March.

I didn't get much of a break

so by spring I wasn't as ambitious as usual.

My seed starts struggled.

I was lack luster in getting things in the ground,

and I questioned if we would have much at all

by the time harvest rolled around.

The lesson~

There is always a lesson, isn't there?

We are taught, errr well, back in my day anyways - haha!

not to be pompous or proud.

Pride comes before a fall as the saying goes.

It does seem when we are struggling,

we find ourselves most humble.

(Saskatoon berry juice.)

And here is where I must digress for a moment

so you can see the whole picture.

I am aware of the circumstances of our food supply as a nation.

In the eye of world events,

I realize our nation has become dependent upon other

countries for much of our sustenance.  

The area around us is a heavy agriculture area,

and there are a lot of wheat fields in addition to

hay, peas, potatoes and fruits.

Knowing many of the plains states were experiencing

challenging weather and failing crops,

as I was pushing through trying to get my homely little starts

in the ground and wondering if they would even survive,

I looked over the fields and said a prayer not really for myself

but for our collective efforts.

I realize not everyone here is the praying sort.

Stick with me for a minute if you will please.

That was what seems like ages ago,

but in reality was only a few short months ago.

(We lost our canopy, but the bean wall is outrageous this year.)

And here's where the ends meet

with the lesson and the harvest.

They've been pulling great loads of wheat from the surrounding fields.

They harvested peas from the field in front of our house.

The farmer told me to help myself if I wanted any.

I did but didn't abuse the privilege.  

They've began harvesting onions behind our house.

We are able to glean what's left in the field which is substantial.

I am ever grateful.

And those tender little starts that looked like they were

lost of hope,

well they are producing like crazy.

We picked 23 cucumbers from my one plant in 4 days.

Our tomatoes are packed and just coming on.

I have never seen so many tomatoes grow on 

individual plants.

Nearly every plant is loaded.

The "regular" tomatoes are the size of baseballs to softballs.

The Romas are the size of tennis balls.

Hubby said they will probably all turn ripe

about the time he leaves for hunting.

He's probably right!

The grass hay in the field to the side of us looks amazing.

Critters need food too.

The point of all of this is to put a little nudge of inspiration

in your heart.

When you are feeling like you are wilting and might not make it,

remember also, you might just pull through and have 

an abundance, a great bounty.

And just one more little testimony to how bad it was,

in case you don't believe me,

and/or if you just need a laugh~

We had to leave for a couple days shortly after I got things planted.

My folks came to take care of things while we were gone.

My mom, who I joke can plant a pencil and watch it grow,

said, "Your tomatoes are dead.  I watered them because you said to,

but I don't think they'll make it."

Thanks Mom (heehee).

For some reason, I couldn't give up on them.

That little bit of faith is now paying off.

Keep you well,

and until next time,

Many Blessings.

 

Awe-tumn!

Well Howdy folks~

I do hope you’ve had a fantastic summer.

We have recently built our first fire and received our first real rain since June.

They should be opening the forests, if they haven’t already, 

so we can go get firewood.

That’s something we usually like to do in spring, and we do have some 

but not enough to make it through the winter.

You are probably wondering what we’ve been up to these past few months

- or even if you aren’t wondering, I’m still gonna tell 'cause I'm ornery that way.

The garden did reasonably well this year in the way of green beans and tomatoes so canning those to help carry us through winter was a priority.

In addition to canning, the dehydrators have been busily humming along

with apricots, plums, strawberries, blackberries, and apples.

We’ve processed one bear so far (wouldn’t mind another.)

In addition to the meat, we rendered 1 gallon of incredibly delicious lard 

and for the first time bone broth.

Mr LB surprised me with this amazing cauldron.

I had been wanting one for some time. He’s such a sweetie!

We were able to process all of the bones in one go 

and ended up with several gallons (in quart and pint jars) of broth.

Aside from our jobs, that’s what has consumed most of our time.

About the plans and projects I alluded to in my last post,

well they are still in progress.

Believe it or not, I have been trying to work on them, 

but as often happens life gets in the way.

I’ve been blogging for ten years now and over that span, 

there have been many changes -

Both in myself and in the land of blogs.

Is it just me or did they used to be more personable?

Once I was about a month into the break,

(probably while chopping tomatoes- great thinks get thunk while chopping)

I realized I was no longer thinking of my life in the form of blog posts.
It was a refreshing realization.

We went out of town for a wedding and a visit to friends this past weekend, and

I think it was the first time I took pictures in two months.

Somewhere between boiling bear bones and slicing apples,

I decided to just take it easy in the way of blogging.

I will post occasionally but not on a regular basis.

As I do finalize some of the things I’m working on

(though turtle pace it may be)

I will be sharing them with you

It always makes me wonder when a blog just stops 

or doesn’t post for several months, if everything is okay at the other end.  

(Am I the only one who wonders such things?)

So I just wanted to let you know

that even if I don’t post regularly, I’m here.

Here working, here living, and here moving through the seasons.
I'm here.

As always, I love to hear from you 

so feel free to drop me a line and harass me a bit.

Oh, Summertime

We are in the deepest phase of summer.

Though ours began with triple digits for nearly a month,

these August days bring about a different air.

Of course, this year every thing has been dried hard

and even the ground is a harsh shade of brown.

But nature is persistent.

Elderberries are coming on.

Wheat harvest is finishing up.

Gardens are producing full force.

And we,

we roll through the days

picking and canning green beans,

pulling carrots,

eating salad nearly everyday,

and moving with a certain ease and urgency.

We know what needs doing next 

and prepare for it as we work through the task at hand.

There is plenty to keep us busy,

and we are fully aware of the reward

our labor will bring come winter. 

Come winter, we'll rest.

For now,

we keep moving.

Children are savoring their last days of summer break.

Families are taking one more camping trip.

And we are 'putting by.'

We are doing.

This is the good life.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

It Begins with Peas

From now until late fall,

the pressure canner will be a constant part of the kitchen decor.

Peas are the first crop to harvest.

They are also one of the easiest things to can.

To can peas:

Fill the jar with fresh peas to 1 inch below rim,

add 1/2 tsp sea salt,

fill jar with warm/hot water to 1 inch below rim,

make sure rims are clean,

secure lid - just finger tight

place in pressure canner w/ water (follow canner instructions,)

bring up to pressure (often 11# but 12# here)

let 'cook' at that pressure for 40 min.

Note: check your canner chart for elevation / pressure requirements.

The peas start out a bright green.

After they are canned,

they become a bit darker.

Once they cool, the "water" in the jar will solidify slightly.

This is pea oil.

Peas are a bean so produce an oil.

When I heat the peas to eat, I leave this in the pan.

We add no color enhancers or chemicals to our foods.

(Yes, technically salt is a chemical.  I know.  But we can pronounce it:)

The first time I canned peas,

I called a friend, because I thought I did something wrong

when I saw the pea oil.

She was kind and didn't even laugh at me.

This has been our evening entertainment for the past couple evenings.

One of my goals this year is to keep better track of how much we preserve.
I have a hard bound cheapo notebook
that I have began keeping a log with the dates as well.
This will help us to know how much we eat each year
as well as when we need to be ready next year.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Harvest Blessings

There has been a lot going on around here
as there has been for many folks.
I'm not entirely sure just where to begin today.
My last post included a partial to-do list
some of which has occurred.
Today I found my kitchen floor.
You know, I think it was under there all along
and was just playing hide & seek.
At least we can walk across it without
it pulling our socks off now:)
The forests are open so we have brought in,
split, and stacked a couple trailers of wood.
We probably need one more good load or a couple small ones.
That's quite the workout, but is so rewarding.

A few days ago as I was picking 'more' plums, and
this nearly hit me in the head before I noticed it.
This whole limb will be pruned off 
so I am going to rescue it and bring it inside for the mantle.

The river is low but still sounds beautiful as
my head hits the pillow at night.

Tomatoes! Wow!
They leave me speechless.
There were a bunch that came up volunteer (in the potato patch.)
They are a little later than the ones we planted intentionally.  But look what they are doing.  The vast majority of these little ones go on the dehydrator to become 'sun-dried' tomatoes.  The ones in the upper right bowl are all from volunteer plants.
This year in addition to 'real' tomatoes,
we had little purple tomatoes and big orange ones - both good.

If you have never canned pears,

first let me warn you.

And second, 

you don't know what you're missing.

I have canned as much as we will eat,
gave away six big grocery bags full to some friends,
and they are still falling.
My neighbor was over today and asked if I wanted any pears.
I just laughed.
A good year for pears evidently.
Some folks don't realize that they fall from the tree green
then ripen over the course of about a week.

This was fantastic thought on God's part since they
are too tender, would bruise, and directly turn to mush
if they fell when ripe.

They are easy to can (one of the first things I learned to can.)
Just peel, core, slice, and top off with syrup.
Hot water bath for 8-10 minutes and presto.
I prefer a light syrup so use 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water.
Bring it to a simmer so the sugar dissolves before
pouring over the fruit.

And last but not least...
evening before last we fiiiiiinally had a little shower
move through, and as we looked out our back door,
this is what we saw over the mountain.

I hope each of you is finding your own form of blessings
and enjoying the tail end of the harvest season.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Harvest Party & Pumpkin Bread

On our mountain, we have a bit of a little mountain community.  We have a few little 'community' get togethers each year.  Today we had a harvest party.  We didn't have to take anything, but we could if we wanted to.  I love making this pumpkin bread/scones recipe.  It makes my kitchen smell delicious.  Since Mr. LB doesn't care for pumpkin (but likes the seeds:) I took the opportunity to make it.

It isn't a sweet bread, just flavorful with a little melted butter - are you drooling yet?

Oh, but wait.  It gets even better.

It actually makes two of these rounds.  The recipe says to make one large round, but the wedges are very large so I make two smaller rounds which are still good sized.  Tomorrow, we will go cut wood for Loretta up the river - an elderly lady whose husband passed away about 3 years ago.  Since then, we get together and split and stack her wood for her.  She makes yumiliscious goodies and tea and coffee for us while we work.  It's sooo worth it & besides, that's what neighbors are for.  We take care of one another. I'm adding the recipe for the pumpkin bread at the end of the post so your kitchen can smell delicious too.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Pumpkin Wedge Bread

2 cups self-rising flour,  2 tablespoons butter,  1/2 cup raisins,  1/3 cup sugar,  1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice,  1 cup canned pumpkin,  1 egg,  3 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 425*.  Place flour in large bowl.  Cut in butter with fingers till mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Stir in raisins, sugar, and spice.  Make well in center.  Add in pumpkin, egg, and 2 tablespoons milk.  Stir until a soft dough forms.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface.  Knead gently 10-12 times.  Place on a greased baking sheet and pat into a circle ( I made two circles about an inch thick.)  Cut completely through dough to make wedges.  Brush top with remaining milk (I forgot so you see my flour - oops)  Bake 20-23 minutes & serve with butter.

*From "Muffins, Scones & Coffee Cakes"