Well, it’s official. We have cucumbers! : ) My favorite two things of summer – fresh homegrown cucumbers and tomatoes. I really think I could live on them. The kids and I picked about 4 the other day when we were out watering the garden and there were quite a few that looked like they’d be ready by the weekend. As I was digging in the green beans I noticed several of our scallop squash that are beginning to take shape. Have you seen these? They have beautiful bright orange flowers that produce adorable little disc-shaped squash with a scalloped edge.
I’m so very looking forward to tomatoes. We have so many on the vine. Lots of big green tomatoes that I’m just dying for to turn color! This spring I planted 4 varieties – black giants, break o’ day, early girl and pink German tree. I’ve not grown any of these varieties before so I’m eager to see what they all produce.
Aside from the garden maintenance, I’ve been keeping busy studying up on things like canning and preserving our bounty. Lord willing, I will have a canner before too long and we’ll have no trouble putting up some delicious tomatoes. In all this reading, I’ve also gotten the idea to try canning some meat and full meals. I wish I knew someone who’s had lots of experience at it. We buy grassfed and local meat which can be expensive. I’d love to have the ability of stocking up on meat during a good sale and be able to preserve it some other way than freezing. I hate cooking frozen meat. Not only is it a pain, but it just doesn’t taste as good. Besides that, imagine getting home from church on Sunday afternoon about 1:30 and just popping open a couple cans of stewed meat or chili or soup, etc. This seems like a great solution for so many occasions.
Speaking of all this veggie business, our little town started a farmer’s market that meets on Wednesday evenings just across the street from us. We’ve learned so much about food and the like over the last year, it seems like this was just another little blessing from the Lord to encourage us. We’ve enjoyed some great jams and treats from the vendors. This week we’re expecting local honey which I’ve been wanting to get for a while now. I’m hoping to talk to the vendor about some beeswax as well. We’d like to make some candles and I’d love to have wax for salves on hand.
All this is so new to us but we’re enjoying the process of learning and all the encouragement people seem eager to give.
On a side note, it’s wonderful being pregnant again. I’ve missed having a little one quite a bit and I’m savoring every second of this pregnancy. Hopefully, we’ll find out if we’re expecting a boy or a girl sometime after our next appointment in July. We’d love to eliminate half the name battle. That’s our biggest struggle when it comes to having a new baby!
-knittingprose
I am planning on going to the Farmer’s Market this Wednesday. Maybe I’ll see you there!
I look forward to Wednesday every week now. : ) Hey if you need any cucumbers and I don’t see you over there, come to the house. I have pounds and pounds of cucumbers! lol