Canning and Gardening Woes…

I must start this blog post with an apology for the whining that is to follow.  I guess I just need to get this out of my system and then I will be fine.

I am really starting to question this whole gardening and canning process. The whole idea of being a bit more self stating is appealing but it doesn’t come without cost and sometimes huge costs. 

This is the first year that Papaw and I really jumped onto the farming bandwagon. We made some investments that would make our lives easier to continue this in the years to come; hence, a new tractor, supplies and good composting material for our garden spot, hoses, watering cans, shovels, seeds, plants, canning jars. At some point, I started to look at the way some of my family puts up and preserves for the winter. I am starting to question if it is more cost effective to find a good farmer’s market and buy the goods needed by the bushel or raise my own? Either way, I know there is no sure fire way to always come out on top but I really want to get down to the dollars and cents of all of this and make it truly a good value too. I enjoy so much about the process but it has to make sense too.

I have to say, Papaw and I up until this heat wave, have really enjoyed our garden. When the heat hit, we have really had to water and stay on top of things to keep our garden producing. I guess today, my breaking point came when canning 18 pints and a few quarts of zucchini and one side of my Jenn Air range top shorted out. My mom had been warning me about my range top and I knew better than to stay at it so long but I was so close to being finished. When I got on line to look at what the cost would be to buy the one side element replacement, which would replace two burners on one side, I quickly started getting a bit nauseous. I couldn’t believe, I can almost buy a whole new range top for the price of the replacement for these two elements. The range was in the house when we purchased it. I would have never spent that type of money to buy a range such as this one. Don't get me wrong, I do love it but it is not a practical range top and I am a practical gal. I have always known, flat surface range tops were not suitable to be canning upon. I don’t know what I was thinking today. I should have taken a break and gave the range top a bit of cooling off time. I was rounding the corner on my third batch and I heard this strange and unsettling noise. One would have thought someone in the house was sure to have been electrocuted but I knew, I was home alone and I was fine. I went to check things in the kitchen and noticed the eye on the stove was on but the light was out. I cringed, my productivity for the day was a bust. I took my last four jars in the kettle to the grill out back that has a side burner to finish the water bath process

The question my son asks me around lunch time of, how economical was canning pineapple zucchini vs. buying pineapple became a bit of a thorn, when my element burnt out. He had no idea when asking and my answer was, pretty darn economical!  It was too considering how blessed we were with zucchini and the affordable cost of pineapple juice.

I guess all in all, I know I have no right to complain. I know back in the day, when everyone worked hard to grow and preserve that which sustained them throughout their year, had times when they wondered the value of their labor. I know, farmers grew crops they never harvested and many of hours of labor and toil made them wonder if there was a better way. I guess for me, when I start looking at the process by which others are putting up goods for the winter, it makes me question what our needs are, what our cost output is and could there be a better and more economical way? We love gardening and we have our big investments already made and paid for. I guess, I already know my answer but I am just needing to whine a bit. Please forgive me. I think too, the loss of one of our hens to the hot weather on Sunday was a bit of an upset to us too. I know it happens but, we love our gals and it was just sad that we lost one. It may sound a bit crazy but we really love each one of our hens.

Hope you all are having a prosperous summer. Maybe ours will turn around a bit. I do thank God for all of our blessings. I just hope it doesn’t cost anymore this season to preserve them.

Many blessings!

Summertime Goodness...

Well, it has been a month since my last post. I really thought, I would be able to work on my blog a bit more, once summer came, bah, ha, ha!  Summer thus far, has been pretty busy. With working on the garden, putting up veggies in the freezer and doing a small amount of canning, I have not had a lot of free time.

We did manage to sqeeze in an 11 day vacation, with the help of our son. We would not have been able to leave for that long, if  he had not helped us out. Daily, he cared for our chickens. He also looked after our cat Lucy and Buddy our dog. He also watered our garden. He is such a good egg, that is what I always say to him. I am so grateful to him for helping to make our vacation possible so, thank you Joey! We love and appreciate you so very much.

We took Doodlebug camping. We had a really great time. We took Doodlebug to a nearby waterfall. She and Papaw hiked up it. She loved it. She is such an adventurous kid. She stayed with us for 7 days and then she went home. Papaw and I had some well needed time to just relax. We spent our days alone there just relaxing and reading a bit. We hiked around the lake, swam and just enjoyed a bit of down time.

Below is a shot of the backside of the lake from our little 4 mile hike. We headed out early to avoid the heat. The high that day, was 102 degrees. When we returned to camp, it was about 98 degrees. The water that early was like a mirror, it was so calm. I have so many wonderful photos that I would love to share, because they are so special to me. I do think you would grow tired of seeing them all, if I posted them. I did love this shot though.

We returned home from the campout, to see the garden was overflowing with veggies that needed to be picked and put away. Thank God, our son had been watering it. With the heat we have had lately, if he had not watered it, we wouldn't have had a garden to come home to.

The garden has grown pretty well. We do know now, next year we will be expanding it outward. Right now, we have to wade through the squash to pick it. We have also learned, the tomato plants are set too closely together.

We had no idea that Roma tomato plants grew more like a bush. Next year, we will have to find a better way to stake up the plants and space them out. We have noticed that we have a bit of bloom rot on our Roma tomato plants and we have treated for that. I do hope that we solve that problem because our tomato plants are loaded and we were looking forward to canning some of those.

We have picked okra, green beans, sugar snaps, peppers, spinach, kale, several types of squash and a few cucumbers already. I do wish we would have planted more cucumbers, green beans and sugar snap peas. This being our first real attempt to plant a garden, we had no idea how much to plant. We are taking notes for next year. There are many things I know we will be planting less of and things we will be planting much more of.

We have had an abundance of squash, of all types. I am really looking forward to our fall squash. I think we are going to have a good harvest of butternut and acorn squash. I am excited about that. We love acorn and butternut.

The spaghetti squash has been a very good crop too. I wished I knew a way of canning this type of squash. We have been making refrigerator salads and eating it with sauce in place of pasta. I would love to know how to preserve this and put it away, while being able to maintain its noodle like texture.

Papaw and I have been enjoying our evenings together, spent weeding and picking. It seems like the perfect way to relax after a long day, even if we are working. Up until this heat wave, we looked forward to our late afternoons working in the garden. We are now looking forward to a much needed break from such high temperatures soon. I do hope the weather man is right and next week will bring much needed rain and cooler evenings.

I am grateful to God for all of our blessings and summer goodness. I do hope you all had a wonderful fourth of July and are finding wonderful ways to say cool and beat the heat.

Until next time,

Many blessings to you all!

Lavender Lemon Aid, Yum!

Nothing is better in the summertime than fresh, squeezed lemon aid. Everyone seems to have their spin on lemon aid and there are so many wonderful recipes. My all time favorite has to be, lavender lemon aid. 

I think lavender and lemons just go together. The flavor may not be for everyone. Many folks do not care for floral/herbal flavors in their drinks. I love all of the subtleties that floral herbs bring to a warm or cold drink. 

Years ago, I was introduced to lavender lemon aid while on vacation. I came right home and tried my hand to making it. The first few times that I made it, I over did it with the lavender and it was very strong. I have decided, a few teaspoons to a couple of tablespoons for me, adds plenty of flavor.

I made a bit today after doing a bit of housework. It was very refreshing. 

There are many ways of making it so, if you decide to try it, check out a few recipes on line. This is how I typically make it.

I start with the juice of several lemons. I will need about 1 ½ cups of juice.I add it to a sauce pan with about 2 cups of water and heat on medium to high heat. 

While that is warming, I add a couple tablespoons of lavender to a mesh teabag and toss into the pan.

Remove from heat and let it steep for 30 to 40 minutes, or longer if you really love lavender flavor.

 

Then I added some water and ice to a ½ gallon Ball jar, leaving enough room for the lemon/lavender mixture to be added. While the lemon/lavender mixture is still warm, add your sugar or sweetener and stir until dissolved. I used Agave sweeten my lemon aid. I do not use much sweeter of any type so, I only add a couple of teaspoons of Agave. Agave seems much sweeter than even honey so, it doesn’t take much. If you want to use regular sugar, a basic lemon aid recipe calls for about 2 cups of sugar for a half of a gallon of lemon aid. That just seems like a lot of sugar to me, for only a 1/2 of a gallon.

I poured the mixture over the ice and added more water to fill the jar to the top and stir. Remove the mesh teabag of lavender. If you really want more lavender flavor, you could let the bag rest in your lemon aid. The more lavender you use, the deeper pink to even purple color your lemon aid will be. 

Serve over ice and enjoy. I do think, the next time I make a jar of lavender lemon aid; I am going to add a few sprigs of fresh mint to it while it steeps. I have never had it that way but lavender and mint do work well together. 

I like to save my lemons rinds. I add them to a jar of white vinegar and sit in the window sill for a week or so. Then I strain the vinegar off and store in a jar. I use the vinegar as a citrus infused household cleaner. You can add a few more drops of lemon essential oil, if you would like. 

When I am ready to use it, I add ¼ cup of vinegar to a spray bottle, fill the rest of the way up with water and shake. It is great for cleaning in the kitchen or bathroom. I do not use it on the windows or mirrors. The oils from the lemons will leave oily streaks on glass surfaces. 

I just love how pretty and colorful the lemons mixture looks sitting in the window sill too. It just says, "summer." 

May there always be work for your hands to do.
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine upon your window pane.
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near to you and
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Until next time, many blessings!

A Bit of This and That...

The past couple of weeks have been relaxing. We finished up our homeschooling a couple of weeks ago. We really just took a break from it all for a couple of weeks. Doodlebug will be continuing on with math and reading throughout the summer. She also will continue her ice skating lessons. She just started taking horseback riding lessons with a young fellow from church. She is really excited about the riding lessons. So, we will be busy.

Now that our traditional school day is on hold for a few weeks this summer,  Papaw and I have been having a day or two to ourselves here and there. A few days ago, we pulled out our motorcycles and went for a ride. It was a beautiful day for it. I had forgotten how much I love riding. We went for lunch at a little BBQ place and then on into the park. We stopped for a while just to sit on a rock and watch the fish swim. It was so good just to relax for a bit in nature. The outing was just enough to get my mind reeling and working to plan a camping trip before the summer ends. 

               Papaw relaxing by the creek.

Our garden is doing really good. We have had some trouble with cabbage worms but I think that season is about behind us. Last night we had our first bits of squash from the garden, zucchini and yellow. I cubed them up with an onion and we grilled them, they were delicious.

We are so thrilled over our sugar snap peas. We love them so and our plants are loaded with them. Yum!

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer.

Many blessings!