Bounty!

I believe that our gardens deserve a post 100% dedicated to them!  As I looked over pictures of the last number of years to pull together a 10th anniversary slideshow, I was only moderately surprised at how often we photograph our food.  I kind of knew it, but looking at folder after folder only confirmed my suspicions!  We do get a whole lot of satisfaction, entertainment, exercise, fulfillment and fabulous nutrition out of growing, harvesting and eating food from just steps outside our doors.  And, my goodness, does the flow of stuff coming in those doors keep us hopping at this time of year.

While I have been the main "author" of this family blog, Jason has worked on a few pieces for our website.  In addition to his extensive and interesting history with chickens, there are now reflections on spinach and onions at http://tanglywoods.com.  Check them out if interested...  I need not say more about either of those two crops, as he covered them more than adequately, but in general it seems worth noting that one of the aspects of what we do that we enjoy so much is being part of the full cycle of this food-growing thing!  At this time of year the back counter is full to overflowing with bowls of seeds from the best of what we are growing (watermelons, cantaloupes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, dried beans, etc...).  And the shed and garage are taken over with bundles of drying seed heads or beans that need shelling or stomping and then threshing and winnowing.  It's a messy and somewhat time consuming process but for us it more than pays for itself.  We see the rewards in improved seeds and plants that are well suited to our particular environment.  And we, including our girls, get to be intricately involved in all the steps that it takes to grow our food here in this place.  It saves a little money to not buy seeds every year but that reason alone is likely not worth the effort (though my frugal tendencies would probably push us to do it even if that was the only factor)...  There are times that seed saving also feels just a bit like tithing.  It's not always easy to pull out the very best that we have grown and set it aside to commit it to the soil again for seed.  Some crops (like garlic and onions) are harder than others (you plant the whole thing so you don't get to eat any of it). Others are really fun - like our current, almost daily, watermelon or cantaloupe taste tests.  We get to eat the whole thing and then decide which specimens to save seed from.  

It's not that we never buy or acquire new seeds.  Each year, somewhere around January, the seed catalogs are just a bit too tantalizing with their photos and descriptions.  And we hit on winners sometimes.  We grew a new kind of cantaloupe this year and will be doing it again!  When we cut open and tasted the first one, it was definitely one of those "we couldn't have possibly grown this" moments. I still think it is funny that I have those moments - as if the "store-lopes" I've eaten over the years weren't also grown in the soil on someone's land.  But it still sometimes seems too good to be true that one of those little seeds bears such an amazing delicacy.  Jason, the guy who has often said cantaloupes taste something like dirty socks, even swooned over it (ok, maybe not quite, but almost...).

The rains have been good this year and we have had to irrigate so little compared to some previous years.  The popcorn is happy!  We are starting on some of our larger harvests now.  Jason just clipped and brought in all the pinto beans.  On the docket next is to dig potatoes.  And Jason noted at lunch today that Kali's spaghetti squash is looking close to ready (good timing since I can never seem to make a small batch of pasta sauce).  While the ground hogs took some nibbles out of our delicata squash, it seems that for now they are going elsewhere in search of food (after catching several, even cantaloupe and watermelon rinds are not securing any more for our freezer).  In addition to the larger harvests, about every other day is considered a "harvest day" (likely from now until about frost).   Currently on those days whoever does the rounds picks the following: okra (which we get in small amounts, chop and accumulate for gumbos this winter!), pole beans, bush beans (are now out as of yesterday and carrots/beets planted), red/white raspberries (they never made it to the freezer), black berries, trombone squash (I sometimes almost hope I won't find too many...), peppers, tomatoes (just starting to flood in - more salsa here we come tomorrow), cucumbers and melons (both are petering out rapidly).  The other regular harvests including mint teas, parsley, basil, oregano and other herbs for pesto making and tomato sauce and to add various dishes.  As we often say, we could never afford to eat like this if we didn't grow it ourselves.  Yum!