It’s chilly, but we still haven’t had our first frost. The tomatoes hung in there long enough that we were able to put up one more round of sauce today. We also had salads for dinner. We still have cucumbers going and though the tiny tomatoes are a little worse for wear, they were still delicious in the salad. I am thankful Ron planted late greens. The salads remind me of summer.
It was a strange summer. It rained and rained, and after three summers before of worrying about the well going dry, it was a relief to not have to worry about the well. All the gray skies had a negative impact in the garden in some way, but in the end, almost everything came through.
We have put up green beans, corn, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, broccoli, cauliflower, chickens, eggs, and enough sauce to have some to share. We have potatoes, onions, and garlic in storage. And I’m so proud that I canned pears for the first time ever! I have also made a series of jams and jellies for gifts, but I am hoping to have grape jelly and apple butter to add to the series.
We just have apples and carrots to go, I think. Oh, and by some miracle, we have two watermelon sitting on the counter ripening a little further. I hope they are good, and I’ll have to let you know.
We learned some really important lessons this summer, I think. We learned that the three sisters method words, and we learned that it’s time to cut back on the garden. After 10 years of working every year to expand, expand, expand, we realized we expanded too far. We are overextended in too many ways, so we are trying to cut back in several areas. I am going to have to remind Ron (and it’s going to be hard), but he can’t plant such a massive garden next year. He grows more than we can use, and though we have shared, sold some extra, and our chickens have eaten well this summer, it will be great to have less for him to keep up with next summer, especially because our youngest is getting to be so grown up and the time is precious.
It’s been a good year, despite all of the worries in June and the slow start to everything. It was kind of like a summer of three months of rain that ended with a hurricane, which blew down all of my garden and some of Ron’s. Still, somehow, the seeds worked their magic anyway. We will have food for the rest of the year, and it will be delicious and healthy and
And, tonight, I was super grateful for maybe one last salad for dinner. Maybe there will be one more.
