The family reunion is over now and was a great success. It was hard to say goodbye to my family. I desperately want my parents to move here, but I don't think it is in the cards--at least not anytime soon.
Now that family has come and gone, I am dealing day and night with the fruits of my labor--I should say--meat, veggies, and milk of my labors. Honestly, I am afraid of my garden. Everything is growing like crazy. The squash vines will soon be coming in my bedroom window at night to strangle me. Cucumbers have gone insane. I have already made more pickles than we will ever eat and I have another planting coming on. Zucchini are pouring in and I have already harvested zuchinno ramipicante---the horn shaped Italian heirloom. I harvested the first tomatoes today--green sausage. I am not too impressed with them. I am battling potato beetles, but insect pressure has been low otherwise. Garlic is all curing. I am harvesting carrots as we can use them and a few onions too. The weeds are out of control in the raspberries. Eggplants are forming fruits like crazy and I have harvested a few. I have a large amount of poblanos already and some bell peppers. My beets are huge. I am trying some in the dehydrator. I also dried some of the squash and am pleased with the results--good for soups and casseroles. Frozen squash is abysmal. ooh, I almost forgot the mouse melons--Mexican Sour Gherkins--they are amazingly cute and delicous. Lillian eats all I can harvest. I will defintely grow them again, but in a raised bed or container, they are so tiny they get lost.
I have put up cherry, strawberry, raspberry, and currant jam--all made with agave nectar instead of sugar. I am making cheese for aging as milk accumulates. Dad helped me make Havarti last week and I made Gouda yesterday. All 14 Mr. Dinner's are in the freezer. Paco and I did one and it took an hour. A week later, Paco hired our dishwasher, Felix, to help him with the other 13 which were processed in the matter of 3 hours!! Felix grew up in the chicken business in Mexico. The first Mr. Dinner was turned into a Mexican-style Chicken soup today with our home grown carrots, squash, onions, cilantro, and garlic. How is that for local eating? Lillian just said we did a great job--"Mr. Dinner tastes just like regular chicken." If my calculations are right, we should be getting eggs from the Charlottes by the end of the month. Yippee!!
Lillian is having a great summer. She was thrilled to have a week of 24/7 playmates in her 4 cousins. her and Tory's birthday celebration was great and we took everyone to Indiana Beach on Tuesday. She was not the daredevil of last year, but did have great fun shooting water at Grampy, Sky, Tory, and Daddy and riding the Ferris wheel with Grampy and Daddy. Mom and I kept our feet firmly on the ground. Paco missed the boat, literally, while Mom, Dad, Lily, and I took a tour on Lake Shafer.
1 comment:
That. Is. Just. Awesome.
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