I'm Back

It is hard for me to believe that it has been so long since my last post. While I have been away, our family has had a vacation, played ball tournaments, gardened, and just generally worked hard. It has been a very enjoyable few weeks, but I have come to the conclusion that everything is never accomplished. There is always something else that needs our attention. The hard part of life is balancing the work that must get done and the fun that needs to be had all at the same time. We are still working on it here in East Tennessee!

Our garden has been busy producing lettuce, broccoli, green onions, beets, and peas. We have declared war on the potato bugs. (At the moment, I think they are winning)! Our broccoli has bolted so we will no longer have any of that wonderful treat this summer for our table. Our lettuce is headed in the same direction. I should have succession planted more lettuce, but it is a little hard to do that now that the days are so much hotter. Our peas are coming in by leaps and bounds. In the last two days, I have picked close to a bushel of yummy sweet peas. They taste like candy because they are so sweet. YUM! I have also started picking zucchini and squash. This week's menu plan is based around fresh peas, fried zucchini, and squash casseroles. It can't get much better than that!

There have been a couple of disappointments this year in the garden. We suffer some each year so I choose to turn them into learning experiences. First, our okra didn't germinate. This has been the second time that I have planted it. I bought new seeds and I will try again this week. We lost a lot of our peppers so I need to replace some of those. A board from the raised bed fell and smashed them. I will pick up some more plants from the farm store later this week. While we were on vacation, our broccoli decided to bolt. If I had been home, I could have pinched off the flower heads and kept them a good bit longer. However, I wasn't around to do that. We just lost part of our harvest. I will NOT be on vacation this fall so we should be good with the next harvest of broccoli. Also due to vacation, the weeds got ahead of me this year. I am still trying to dig out from under them!!

For the most part, I have been pleased with the garden production this year. Our next big endeavor will be butchering the 50 meat birds that are walking all around our farm. We are also just about ready to put 5 lambs into the freezer and the cow is getting closer every day. I feel like the little squirrel who is working hard to get his winter food supplies stored in the tree!

grace and peace,
julie