Saturday, October 19, 2013

How Does Your Garden Grow



I'm not sure where my time goes these days, but it seems it's harder and harder to find the time to sit down and update this little blog. Now I feel too far behind to actually catch up! I'm determined to try though, because I do like looking back and reading about our little blessed life when my memory fails me! I came today with pictures from my mother-in-law's garden. I wish I had gotten back and taken some pics when it was at its peak because the lady can grow some veggies.
 
We love it too because we are the happy recipients of much of her labor! Every week or so we get sent home with bags and bags of fresh organic beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, okra, lettuce, etc. Matthew and I have tried our hand at canning and pickling this year so we could save everything. I say we, but really Matthew did. I did a lot of the shelling and freezing of beans, peas, and corn.

 
Eli got to help plant some seeds while we were living there, and was in heaven playing in the dirt digging up worms. I loved the fact that he was outside and learning about where our food really comes from!

 
My mother-in-law would be out every morning before the heat of the day and every early evening until dark planting, hoeing, composting, and weeding. Matthew and I hope to have a garden next summer after we are more settled in here at our house, but it sure is a lot of work.


 
Do y'all remember Rivers? We adopted him when we were first married and my in-laws graciously fostered him when Eli was born and Rivers became a huge pest. :) They have since decided that he is definitely a pest and they are hoping we take him back any day now.


 
Eli loves to help in the kitchen and although it's much faster and easier and cleaner if we do it ourselves, we try to let him help when he can, knowing that it's all a learning process for little ones, and frankly, good for them to help and spend that kind of time together! We love cooking good food, and we want our boys to like it too. I hope their wives will thank us one day. :)
 
We were just sent home last night with another big bag of jalapenos and Matthew has learned to make a great jalapeno relish recipe, so sometime this weekend we will be canning our last batch of veggies for the winter. I hope to at least plant a little lettuce, kale, and spinach garden this week and have some greens for this Fall too. Lots to do every weekend and not enough time as a family to do it! Matthew and I talk many times about how we wish we could just hunt and grow everything our family needs to eat and cook great meals together- but still have my Starbucks. :) Hope y'all are enjoying your weekend--I hope to get back here soon to update about our new house and our growing boys!