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Fall

I have a very strong love/hate relationship with fall.  My husband is working 12 hour+ days and the garden is rewarding us for all of our early work.  But this is the work that I enjoy most preserving the fruit and veggies from our garden and other sources.  

This year I have canned peaches, pears, grape juice, pickles, salsa verde, and green beans.  I have more pears, sauerkraut, apple sauce, more grape juice and salsa to do.

I have frozen grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries, boysenberries, jams, peaches, blueberries, zucchini, corn and cherries.  Luckily we scored on a freezer from craigslist and so now I have two and a half freezers to fill.

I am looking for something to do with an over abundance of watermelon and zucchini.  Any ideas?

There is one area of life that I find a lot of satisfaction-filling my pantry and freezer with yummies from my garden and other sources-to enjoy all winter.  This is one time where I can feel nothing but gratitude that I live in California where we can grow practically everything.

My goal this year is to plant a nice winter garden which should already be in the ground right now but I am just hoping by the end of the month.  

Other things on our little farm are not going so well.  We have lost 5 kitties and 12 chickens to something that is hauling them off.  Our egg production won't be as nice as we thought this year.  I am hoping that they just took roosters.

Kids have been back in school now for 3 weeks.  We are falling back into the routine of scripture reading, lunch packing, homework, and earlier bedtimes.  
Ari First Grader


Jacob 5th grader styling his hair with raid? 

Thomas 3rd grader

I get to keep these two around for at least one more year

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Comments

Jamie said…
I am in the middle of canning and preserving, too. :) One thing I do with zucchini is grate it up, dehydrate it and vacuum seal in jars. It takes up a lot less space than grating and freezing it. Then just re hydrate and use anytime.
Friday, September 09, 2011
Mommy J said…
So when I actually have a garden to work with, I am going to stalk grandma and grandpa and get your # and call you to see how its done! Because I am amazed at how much stuff you have!! What a blessing!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
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