A Bountiful Harvest

As many of you know, I enjoy gardening.  It’s changed a bit over the years…we lived in Portland with room for only a few tomato plants, we moved to the country where I inherited a 4000sqft piece of gardening freedom where I planted LOTS, I had William and planted a little less and then I had Calvin and let the weeds semi take over (o;  Needless to say, my love for the dirt and watching things grow hasn’t changed.  It’s been fun to see William’s hands in the dirt while we plant, as well as his excitement as he sees a tiny green leaf poke through the soil.  Calvin, well he’s learning to love dirt too…the taste that is.  I’m sure, as he grows, that he’ll learn to love an aspect of it too (even if it’s simply a dirt clod fight with his brother…I can see it already).

And this is how the cupboards (and the freezer, and the dehydrator…) are filled…

Preparing the soil

   Mounding up the rows…

Strawberry picking with friends (William 3 ½y, Peter 2 ½y, Calvin 7mo, and Isaac 5 ½ mo-who was sleeping in a stroller the whole time).  Even though we got quite a few berries off our plants at home, it was nice to fill our freezer quickly elsewhere.  And besides, it’s fun to pick with friends!  William mentions “picking with Peter” every time we pass by this field now…   

 

William…serious about potato hole digging. 

And this is what keeps us the MOST busy during the growing season….Our blueberry field.  If it weren’t for my desire to keep the crop spray-free, we wouldn’t have to battle every single weed with our bare hands.  Seeing William sit next to a bush and fill his belly with berries makes it all worth it…maybe (o; THANK YOU to all who came out!   

Both my boys, helping make applesauce (Calvin’s helping by being entertained with his letters).   

My hard working William, cranking away in his undies (o;

 Calvin- My little canner in the making. 

William even got to crank out the sauce with Gpa and Gma while they were here visiting.

                              

With over 20 tomato plants, we had lots of...

Tomatoes!

…Coming out our ears! 

Uncle Tom tryin’ out the Saucemaster for some eventual marinara sauce.  *You better watch out Tom…Pretty soon you’re gonna want to start growing some tomatoes down on your little pad in California (well, maybe not (o;…but thanks for helping anyway!)

Auntie Mel and Uncle Tom helped us out with our Pumpkin Harvest…

Yep, he’s driving a tractor.  We’ll bring out whatever love of farmin’ you’ve got in you (o;

It requires a tractor to haul out our products this year…the biggest I’ve ever grown (don’t ask me how I did it).

This is one serious “pumpkin gutter” (he’s taking after his Mom-it’s my favorite part of carving too)

Cuteness…from inside the pumpkin.

And after we’ve got our fill of green beans, pickled beans, applesauce, jam/jelly, plums, prunes, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, marionberries, blackberries, apple and peach pie filling, dried apples, tomatoes, marinara sauce, sun dried tomatoes, dried herbs, pesto, onions, jalapenos, bell peppers, potatoes and salsa, it’s time to put the canning supplies to rest.  

(And you ask why I put myself through all this craziness?  Refer back to the beginning… I truly do love it)