One of the things that has been keeping me super busy is that I am working quite a bit more than I used to. One of the super fun things I get to do right now at work is make milkshakes! They are a super popular item this summer. I’ve been getting ice cream at a super low price ($3 for a carton) and just making them at home. When I was little, I thought milkshakes were such a mysterious, special thing. Now, they are still special, but not mysterious. Put ice cream in my little blender, add milk, blend. squirt whipped cream. Add sprinkles. Done!
We went peach picking a couple of times.
I canned 14 quarts.
I made 6 quarts of peach pie filling as I was completely out of that.
I told people to eat what they wanted and I froze the rest.
As you can tell, I am canning/preserving less this year of many things. I have a large amount left over and my freezers are very full. I planted less in the garden, am u-picking less and preserving less so I can work on getting some of that used up this year.
The funny thing is….the bean patch did not get the memo. My 5 short rows gave me 45 pints and 7 quarts canned, around 10 quarts frozen, and numerous bowls to give away. We also ate as many as we could hold.
Let’s not even talk about zucchini. I’m just glad my relatives and friends are still talking to me. They have been given so many! I froze a bunch, and we’ve been enjoying it, as well.
I pulled most of the beets. I have more growing, but these were the ones that were ready. I have never seen a beet as large as the one in the middle. I wasn’t sure if it would even be good, but it was super sweet and tasted great.
We ate a lot of them and I pickled the rest. I ended up with about 7 or 8 pints.
Because I am struggling for freezer space since I’m getting so much produce, I pulled out a turkey, had Rob cook it on the BBQ and made broth from the bones.
I also pulled all the beef bones I could find from the quarter beef we bought last fall and made beef broth and canned it.
The beans are now all pulled up and fall crops are planted. We have more beets, carrots, spinach, lettuce, boc choi, cabbage and snow peas I planted yesterday. I have a second crop of cucumbers, zucchini, beets and green onions I planted a few weeks ago on the upper right of this photo.
But, even in the midst of it all…Papa has the time to take the little man down to Costco for some pizza and hot dogs. It has been a busy, but very fun summer so far!
So happy to see you back posting. And what a great summer you’ve had.
My very little garden is still giving me cherry tomatoes and chard. I’m looking forward to cooler temps and planting my fall garden. Learning to garden in the same AgZone as Las Vegas has had me on the short tail of the learning curve.
Sending prayers and hugs your way.
SJ. now in California
I can’t even imagine growing in those conditions. We water every other day when it reaches high 80’s and 90’s, and we are in western OREGON!!! Summers are dry here, of course, but still things are extremely green compared to your area. I was glad to get a fall garden in here, as well.
Your beets are beautiful! Do you blanch and freeze the greens, as well?
I don’t, simply because none of us like to eat beet greens! Which is a bummer, because I know how healthy they are for us.
I am glad to see you back. We have had a great garden this year and have preserved a lot. At church we gave away a lot of zucchini. I went to a peach jam class at the ag extension office and I loved it. I will be making more next year.
I love peach jam. So does Rob. It’s just another thing that I have a lot of left over, so I skipped it this year. I’m hoping to start next season with more of a clean slate. (But knowing me….I won’t go down to zero!!)
I’m so glad to see a post from you, and am happy for all your garden successes. Life is similar here, with gardening and canning. We’ve started on our Fall planting, but don’t have it all in yet. Here’s hoping for bountiful Fall gardens.
We usually grow our own starts for fall, but didn’t this year. Rob did grow all the starts for the spring garden for us, my sister and some leftovers for friends, but there were not as many leftovers as in years’ past. He tried to rein it in, as well:). But, since the only thing we planted with starts yesterday was cabbage, that was easily found. And, we only planted 6 of those. I’m having a terrible time with lettuce this year, so I’m hoping the seeds I planted come up well. Most years, I never buy lettuce all summer, but this year….different story! I’m in-between crops and have been for weeks.