All posts by Becky

food preservation, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–June 27, 2020

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This week revolved around food preservation, at least at my house! What a nice change from everything revolving around the pandemic:) I didn’t want to go anywhere, or do anything else but preserve food anyway:). This is truly one of my favorite times of year. So what did I do?

I went and picked New Haven peaches at my sister’s house on Friday. Rob went back this morning. What they had left after a super busy u-pick day Saturday, was what my sister calls “uglies.” I purposely asked Rob to pick a bunch of those. I froze a lot of them for smoothies. The blender isn’t going to care how beat up they were in the orchard:). I blanched them with boiling water, peeled them, sliced/chunked them and froze on a cookie sheet, then transferred into bags so they are separated for smoothies.

I canned 35 quarts.

I made a double batch of peach jam with some of the “uglies.” I also made a batch of spiced peach-blueberry jam, using 4 cups of blueberries from my bushes.

Of course, the garden still produces, peaches or no peaches. In almost every “peach” picture, you see beans in the background. So far, I have canned 31 quarts, 1 pint, and frozen 3 baggies. I did help her snap those, by the way:), and a big bag was saved for eating over the next couple of days.

And, dear, sweet Patsy got to shred 32 cups of assorted zucchini this morning. We froze it in 2-cup packages for winter baking. It was a mixture of tromboncini, yellow and green zucchini. After the 32 jars of relish the other day, I thought maybe it would slow down?????? Not yet, I guess:). Believe it or not, there’s plenty saved out to eat over the next few days.

My Glacier tomatoes yielded 2 bowls. They are early, but small, so I cut them in 1/2, crushed and boiled, then used my food mill on them to make tomato juice. I then added lots of herbs and spices and garlic powder, salt and pepper and cooked. There wasn’t much there, so I poured in some vegetable/tomato juice that was originally purchased at a discount grocery store and forgotten. I then stirred in some tomato paste to thicken it up a bit, then canned my pizza/pasta sauce. I got 9 or 10 jars, of assorted sizes.

I’ve done dill pickles whenever I get any cucumbers from my patch. So far, I’ve done them 3 times and now have a total of 2 quarts and 9 pints. I will do more in the morning. They don’t seem to give me very many at once, but they add up over time. My dill isn’t growing well. I don’t know why. The ones in rows are stunted. The few that self-seeded from last year are growing merrily in the onions, middle of the rows, or amongst the carrots and beets. I guess they call it “dill weed” for a reason:). So, I’ve just been picking those, and hoping I will have enough.

We used up a lot of my canned and frozen goods this past winter, so I have a lot of canning to do this summer and fall. It is because we were home more, I think. I love that! It keeps the canned and frozen food current and fresh.

We did do a few other things this week. We had Jake and Michaela both Friday and Monday, because of extra work their mama had to do, along with an extra day last Tuesday, and Jake’s normal Wednesday-Thursday “spend the night” time. Michaela is getting a little bored at home, so she was excited to come over. We had a pool party, complete with 2 kiddie pools with water in them, lot of cottage cheese cartons, squirt guns, and ice cream cones. It was very hot today for around here, upper 90’s, so the kids stayed out in the water for several hours. They pretty much stayed in the shaded area they found, sitting in the water most of the time. We used the water left over in the pools to water the strawberries next to the shop. they never get enough this time of year.

While at the restaurant supply store gathering things like celery seed, green and red peppers and vinegar for canning projects, Rob stumbled upon this 25-lb bag of gluten-free rolled oats for $5. It had a torn corner. He grabbed it. He also grabbed 50 pounds of Jasmine rice for $10–they said it had been ordered by mistake and they didn’t want it.

This last week has been rigorous. I’m looking forward to a few restful days after the peaches are done. I need to freeze one more batch of slices in the morning. Still, I love the process of food preservation. My mom calls it my useful hobby. I love seeing those shelves and freezers fill up, and I really love knowing what’s in those jars and packages– good, healthy food that gives us a tremendous variety of delicious food all winter long.

How about you? Are you preserving any food this summer?

Garden

Garden Update–July 23, 2020

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The garden is growing by leaps and bounds. We are harvesting daily, and replanting each area as it becomes available. This lettuce and kale was planted a while back and is looking great. The little lettuce in the background needs help! A couple of days after we planted the little starts, the weather became very hot, so it’s unhappy. With the cooler weather yesterday and today, and all the water we’ve been giving it, it should revive.

The old Alderman Tall Telephone Pole pea seeds have produces enough for a couple of dinners. I really didn’t know if they were too old to sprout, but obviously, they sprouted!

We are getting so many Tromboncini zucchini, and yellow and green zucchinis that we needed to take drastic measures. After giving them away to anyone who would take them and eating them like crazy, we did this….

We love zucchini relish, and now have a large supply for eating and gift giving.

I think this should hold us over:). Even though I picked the big ones, small ones, and everything in-between, there are small ones out there again this morning! We ground the zucchini in an antique meat grinder by turning the crank as we fed the squash into the top. We did a x13 batch–and used 26 cups of ground zucchini–then added the peppers and onions called for! I had to send Rob to the restaurant supply store for peppers and took all the onions my sister had at her house. I have never made so much at once before. We got 32 jars, many of which were pints and the rest 1/2 pints. They all sealed except one. I can’t ask for a more satisfying outcome.

Beans are growing well, although I will say the bush beans don’t like their area very well this year. These are the pole beans and they are very happy. I think the bush beans are getting too much shade from the shop and apple tree. We’ve still canned 21 quarts so far, so it will all work out.

It’s really looking like a jungle in many places. I’ve been able to keep the worst of the weeds out, but it’s a challenge to have time to both weed and harvest.

I’m still getting a small, but steady, supply of strawberries. I have one blueberry bush that is almost finished, and another one that still has many, many berries on it. It takes me quite some time to pick them all. so I’ve just been picking one container in the evening, and freezing it, then waiting until the next day or two. That’s why I got a few unripe ones in the dish—it was getting dark. Mostly, they have much better flavor than last year, though, now that I’ve learned to wait a little longer to pick them. The raspberries and blackberries are almost done, but I’ve been getting a few of those each time I pick as well.

The Glacier tomatoes are continuing to ripen. I got a large bowl full of them yesterday. The Romas and Willamettes are starting to ripen, one here, and one there. The various cherry and pear tomatoes are, too.

I am very happy with my garden this year. We are supplied with so many wonderful veggies and berries, both for fresh eating and also preserving. I have plans for more succession planting as areas free up, and hope to have food growing far into the fall. Rob has baby broccoli and cabbage, plus more lettuce starts growing in the greenhouse, waiting for their turn. So far, I’ve planted more snow peas, beets, leaf lettuce, cucumber and zucchini seeds. I’ve also planted head lettuce, Buttercrunch and Frizzy-Headed Drunken Woman lettuce starts. It has been a good, constructive activity for me during this time where I’ve been home much more than usual. I enjoy it, and really love having all the produce!

Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–July 20, 2020

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Every day, Rob has been walking and doing his physical therapy exercises. He is getting a little bored of walking around and around the block near our house, so we’ve been venturing out to other areas. One day, we drove over to the coast and walked on a concrete trail at South Beach State Park. We started at the South Jetty, walked over to the campground and scenic boardwalk viewpoint, and back to the jetty. We are still looking for places that are relatively flat, and smooth, as he is still in the middle of the 6-week “be careful” phase after his surgery. He is easily walking around 2 miles at a time now.

Lovana had the day off, so we picked her up and took her along. It was nice to spend some time with her. Her job is just as busy as it was pre-Covid, in the little coffee/crepe shop. They had a time period, at first, where business was very slow, but now, it’s picked back up, due to the added orders coming in from Uber Eats and Grubhub, coupled with the fact that people can come in and eat at tables that are distanced from each other.

I got my first canner-load of beans this morning, and every one sealed! That makes it a very good morning for me:). I also got my first dill pickles canned–just 4 pints, but it’s a great start. Rob eats a lot of pickles, so I’m hoping to get lots more.

I keep doing yard and garden work at every opportunity. The weeks keep growing, produce needs harvesting, and we did some tilling and transplanting where crops were finished.

I’ve been picking berries and freezing them and now have many, many baggies in the freezers. I was able to freeze 3 baggies of green beans this morning, as well, from what wouldn’t fit into the canner load. We’ve been eating lettuce daily, as well, and the zucchini is trying to take over my fridge! I’ve been sharing, both with the relatives, and also with my neighbor over the fence…I wonder if she would notice if there were zucchini scattered over her yard one morning–maybe the boys would think they grew there……..or not. Actually, I think I’ll shred some up and freeze the baggies.

It’s been pretty hot, for our area–upper 80’s and low 90’s. I dug out some squirt guns and water balloons, and the kids, small and large, had a nice afternoon getting wet.

Those kiddie pools have come in handy since last summer when we bought them! They ended up using buckets, milk jugs, bowls that had berries in them for a snack, and a plastic water pitcher when they felt the squirt guns weren’t enough! Lots of fun for everyone:)

Rob's hip surgery, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–July 14, 2020

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I’ve been picking so many berries that we decided to spend a morning making jam on Monday. For this batch, I used frozen peaches and a few frozen raspberries, along with the pan full I picked, to have enough for the batch.

I had to get out the pizza pans to hold all the Marion (black) berries one day. I froze these and picked that many more another day. Those I made jam from. There are still some every couple of days, but I don’t think I’ll get as many at one time again this season.

It’s been sunny and warm, and sun tea has been made several times.

Last week, various family members came Monday, Wednesday and Friday to help me out. We weeded, did laundry and baked at various times. This week, I haven’t needed anyone to come help because Rob is back to driving, as of Monday. He’s also doing dishes, folding laundry, cooking a bit, and doing his therapy. Every day, he does the exercises multiple times, and we are taking 1-2 walks of various lengths, but mostly .7-1/5 miles. I’m still amazed! We see the doctor tomorrow, and I’m excited to see if he thinks Rob’s recovery is as amazing as I do:)

I hadn’t shopped for over 2 weeks. and didn’t need a thing. Until I did! All of a sudden, I ran out of lots of items, mostly staples such as onion powder, red pepper flakes, raisins, odd things like that. I went to a couple of stores, and also decided to place an Azure Standard order, since Rob was doing so much better than I though he would be. I took him to see his mother for a visit, as she was wanting to see him after the surgery, then picked up my order, as my drop is in the same town as she lives in. It was great to get him out. He was going crazy!

Which is why I loaded Rob, Patsy and the dog up and drove to nearby Silver Creek Falls State Park. We found a concrete trail that we could feel comfortable with Rob walking down, quickly slapped a mask on if anyone came near, and walked about a mile. Of course, we were not able to walk the trails to see the falls, yet, but had a wonderful time anyway.

Of course we had to cross the bridge, and Rob was careful to keep his trekker pole tips out of the cracks, since we saw where some other poor person had lost theirs!

There were quite a few people there, so after our walk, we drove down to a place where few people were and chose a picnic table. I cannot express to you how wonderful and different it was to choose a table that was a little ways away from the car, next to the creek, not the one right next to the car. Rob easily navigated his way over there, was able to sit up and down at will–something that has not happened for years, and was able to take a short walk when he needed to! And, better yet, looked baffled for a minute, because the idea suddenly struck him that life was different now, and then said, “I’ll come back in a minute. Because I can.” Every single time he stood up and sat down before surgery was so painful, that he would just go the smallest possible distance, sit down, stay there until time to leave, then go straight to the car. Every decision was based on how far he would have to walk and how many times he would have to stand up and sit down. This is so different and amazing! We don’t take it for granted, and are praising the Lord every single day for the blessing this surgery has been for Rob.

Rob's hip surgery, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–July 6, 2020

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The garden is really starting to pump out the produce. I’m having to spend more and more time picking and dealing with it all! What a wonderful “problem” to have:)

Most of these greens were chopped up and put in baggies in the fridge for Rob to stir-fry for his breakfast scrambles. The bowl of blueberries was full last night. I guess everyone was super hungry for blueberries!

In the past, I’ve had trouble with these blueberries being too sour. My mom suggested that maybe I was picking them too soon–so I waited 2 weeks longer than I have in the past, and picked very carefully. They are nice and sweet! There are a lot more out there and I will start freezing some soon, but we might as well eat what we want while they are fresh because we won’t get that chance again until next summer once they are gone.

After Rob wore the tips off his walker by taking so may walks, he changed over to trekker poles as he was starting to make gouges in the floor. He is going out 2-4 times per day for a walk, with company, and with all the trips added up, went about 2 miles yesterday. Today marks 1 week since his surgery. I’m completely amazed, but so happy. He hasn’t been able to walk this much for years.

I have family members coming in Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to help me out this week. It’s so nice of them to come, and we plan to garden, do laundry, and things like that.

Holidays, Rob's hip surgery

Rob’s Surgery Update #2–Happy INDEPENDENCE DAY!

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Happy Independence Day to all of you, and especially to Rob! With each day that passes, he’s gaining more and more ground in his recovery from his recent total hip replacement.

His surgery was Monday. This is Saturday. He’s doing amazing! They had him up and walking the first day in the hospital and had physical therapy sessions and exercises assigned before he went home on Tuesday evening.

By Thursday morning, he was cooking little pancakes for our nephew, Jake, and his usual morning scramble for himself. Because there are precautions, he can’t bend down and pick things up or do some other actions. But, we fetched him some ingredients and supplies, and he cooked away. No one thought Jake could spend the night Wednesday, as he has almost every week since Covid started, but when he asked, we were able to say “yes” because Rob was doing so well.

He had his first physical therapy yesterday, Friday. By this morning, he had worn the plastic tips off of his walker from so many trips down the road, including the one this morning which was over 1/2 mile.

Jake’s Dad, Ron, came over every day at first to help, mostly for my peace of mind, and to keep Rob company, and take him for walks, etc., and to bring us food. I ended up doing homeschool with Patsy and Jake a couple of times. Everyone welcomed the routine. Another day, my sister came and helped me weed the garden and brought food.

Patsy has been spoiled rotten by Grandma and Aunties and cousins this week. She’s played endless games, and been treated and treated and treated and treated! The day Grandma came, Patsy cooked for her. It’s something all the other kids have done over the years, and Patsy wanted her turn. Grandma is a good sport. She’s eaten many, many interesting meals over the years from many of the cousins, some wonderful, some…….well, interesting. This time, Patsy made her peanut chicken stir-fry, which is amazing, so Grandma was full and happy when she went home. Tonight, she’s off with Michaela and her parents to watch some fireworks from the back of their truck. Jake stayed with me, since neither of us were up for that experience.

Rob is using an ice pack for several hours per day. He’s taking Celebrex, which is like Ibuprofen but stronger, and Tylenol. He’s doing every exercise faithfully, and walking as they said to do, several times per day. He feels very little pain. Some of what he feels is muscle pain as there are muscles in his legs and hip that have not been used for a very long time. That’s it! Can you believe it? I can’t:)

He felt well enough today to have a small 4th of July party with the very small group of family members that we spend so much time with. He and Ron bbq-ed chicken and hot dogs, salads were brought, I made some from garden veggies and lettuce, and my sisters brought ice cream and cake to celebrate Grandma’s birthday.

I know he has a long road ahead of him to build those muscles back up. We’ve been told there will be days that are hard. But, today, we are grateful, we are thankful, we are feeling very blessed by God for the miracle Rob has been granted.

Rob's hip surgery

Rob’s Surgery update #1–June 29, 2020

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Rob had his surgery today and I’m happy to report that the it went very well.

Because of Covid-19, things were done differently. We parked and were let in a side door of the hospital. We were ushered into a small room with a bed and sliding door and they got Rob ready for surgery while I sat on a chair tucked into the corner. Then, when it was time, they rolled him away, and I was left in the small room for a couple of hours. It went by surprisingly quickly, and the doctor came and talked to me, and told me it went very well. I waited there another hour or so, then was ushered to join Rob in his room. Of course, everyone wore masks.

To my surprise, Rob was talking and smiling when I entered the room and made perfect sense:). After some time, the physical therapist came in and got him up for a walk. When he stood for the first time, I was brought to tears. Instead of my hunched over, pain-ridden husband, I was standing next to my tall, pain-free husband with such a happy expression on his face. He hasn’t been able to stand up straight for quite some time. When I left, the operation pain meds were still kicked in, he had very little pain, and he only needed a Tylenol. At one point, he said with wonder, “I guess I can feel a little tiny pinch, but that’s all!” The expectation is that he will get some pain during the night, and that will give him more meds as needed. But, with all the pain he’s been in, even one afternoon with none was phenomenal to him!

To be realistic, he has a long ways to go to heal and build up his weakened muscles, but he’s off to a great start. He’ll have to use a walker for a while, and have extensive physical therapy. There are rules to follow and exercises to do for the best recovery possible. I can’t wait! I hope to bring him home tomorrow, but that’s up to the doctor.

Rob's hip surgery, Saving Money

thriving In My thrifty Week–June 28, 2020

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We got the chance to pick cherries this week. My sister has several trees and shared them with the family. I canned some and made a cherry crisp. Yum!

Since there were several nieces, my oldest daughter, both sisters, it was like a family reunion, and we all worked hard on scattering the required 6 foot distance from each other while trying to get the best cherries. It was a little comical at times, and some finally went and got masks to help the situation out a little.

Rob got the tiny tiller going and I tilled up 2 small sections where other crops had been pulled. In this place, I planted several small lettuces he had grown in the greenhouse, and some Russian Frills kale. My friend, Jeannie, sent Rob the seeds for both the kale and the Red Merlot lettuce. He planted only part of the seeds she sent, and plans on growing more in the fall. He also grew Buttercrunch lettuce and Drunken Frizzy-Headed Woman lettuce. I watered them in and netted them. We have so many birds, they are hard on lettuce.

I picked berries several times this week. Besides the raspberries and strawberries, I picked a small handful of Marion (black) berries. The blueberries are turning blue, but are still sour, so I’m leaving them for a while. I froze most of them, and we ate the rest.

I picked cabbage, snow peas, green onions, basil, cilantro, 2-4 try tomatoes and 2 tiny zucchinis.

We went to the dentist for cleanings and check-ups. It took a long time, due to the extra Covid cleaning, but I am so grateful they could do Rob’s teeth before his surgery. I am the only one who has to go back, they need to replace an old filling.

We spent hours cleaning and organizing for the upcoming surgery. I finished today with a thorough cleaning/bleaching of the bathroom, mopping all over, bleaching doorknobs, doing dishes, cooking a little, and a little garden work. We now have a shower/bathtub bench (after all our scurrying around looking for a free/cheap one, we found that our insurance covered a brand-new one, in full. Hmmmm. Wish we had known that first. We are the proud owners of compression socks and trekker poles. The rest of the little gadgets will be given to us at the hospital.

Rob had his Covid test this morning, and tested negative. Praise God! Now, we just go down there in the morning, and get the operation done. The nurses at the orthopedic clinic said the cafeteria either isn’t open at all, or is open for very short hours only. I’m taking no chances. Instead, I’m taking a lunch:). I’m so grateful I can go at all, at first only the patients were allowed in the hospital. I will need to come home at 7 p.m., as that’s as late as I can stay. If all goes as it should, I will bring him home on Tuesday. We have people for Patsy to be with, and people lined up to help when Rob first comes home. I’m as ready as I can be, and Rob is more than ready. Since they made him stop his ibuprophin a few days ago, his pain level is very high.

Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–June 23, 2020

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This week, I was able to preserve some cherries. A friend had some left-over cherries that his friend had not sold at a farmers’ market and gifted us a box. I had a little sorting to do, as some were over the hill, but most were wonderful!

I was able to freeze several baggies and can 11 pints. My fingers are still purple:)

The everbearing raspberries and strawberries are really pumping out the fruit right now. Every other day I have been picking them and flash freezing the ones we don’t eat right up or give away. Then, I package them up for winter use. Since most strawberries are used in smoothies, we like them frozen separate, not in a big clump, to make it easier to drop into the blender.

Patsy has been working at odd jobs. She’s been doing yard work for the aunties and got to mow the neighbor’s yard for money when their lawn mower broke. She had wanted to get a job when she turned 16, but Covid-19 has put a hitch in her plans. It’s been wonderful that other jobs have turned up that she can do.

Rob found an entire van load of good firewood in the free pile. We spent a day helping him get that put away for winter. He can stand by his chop saw and saw it into pieces and Patsy and I can haul it. The wood shed is getting very, very full, which is nice because he will be unable to work with wood at all for a while after his surgery. I think I have convinced him to let it lie, no matter how wonderful the wood looks that he might see, until after the surgery!

We are trying to get all the odds and ends done around here, as we are planning for me to do only the bare minimum right after he gets his surgery and cannot help. We have the relatives lined up to help, which is a great relief, but don’t plan to make them do things like collect and saw free firewood, fill yard debris bins full of trimmings, or other jobs like that. (I’ll bet you relatives are relieved, huh?).

I finished a baby quilt I’ve been working on for a few months. I really like how it came out.

I sold and shipped some more of Patsy’s old school books.

Garden

Garden Update–June 20, 2020

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The garden is growing like crazy! I’m excited, because all of our hard work is starting to yield a lot of vegetables and fruit, and there’s a lot more vegetables that are coming along nicely, although not ready yet.

The pole beans are happily climbing up their trellis. These will yield until fall, and give me fresh beans for a longer period of time. I will can as many as I am able to get from the bush beans, as I need quite a few this year, but having fresh ones longer enables me to save the canned ones for winter when nothing grows. There are Blue Lake Pole beans and Violet-Podded Pole beans on this trellis.

The main broccoli heads have been picked and frozen or eaten. Now, side shoots are forming. I put some fertilizer on them and will get lots more before these plants are finished. They look awful right now, but trust me, there will be more broccoli! Rob planted some new babies in the greenhouse, and I will put them out in mid-late summer for a fall crop.

This is the third planting of Oregon Sugar Pod II snow peas. The other 2 have been pulled up, and more have been planted wherever I can find a small space to do so. We have eaten them several times a week. Rob stir-fries them up for his morning scramble, and I’ve made several stir-fries for dinners. I don’t try to freeze any. They get too mushy for our taste.

We’ve eaten several cabbages. I have a cabbage blend, and some Golden Acre cabbage. Coleslaw has been a part of our meal plan often. We like it with raisins in it. It has also been added to soups and stir-fries. There are still several cabbages growing, and Rob has some baby ones in the greenhouse for a fall crop. They are called Quick Start cabbage, because that is the kind the store still had. We will see what they are like. I really can’t see how any cabbage would be a bad choice around here. It grows well here.

We have 2 raised beds near our deck. One is full of strawberries and the other is mixed vegetables and herbs. I just keep filling every crack and corner in with new little lettuce plants as I pick things. In that blank space on the right, I filled in a few snow pea seeds just yesterday.

We are having tremendous success with Rob’s plan of growing little seedlings in the greenhouse while waiting for space to free up in the big garden or raised bed. He has planted some unique varieties of seeds a friend sent us, and is excited for me to plant them out. He also keeps a steady supply of lettuces growing so I can fill in partial rows, or little spaces that free up.

The new spinach row is growing nicely, next to the sad and sorry okra that is not. It’s just not hot enough for it to be happy here, I think.

The Blue Lake and yellow Carson bush green beans are growing nicely, though. To the left of the broccoli, the empty space has been planted with more pickling cucumbers. There is another patch already growing elsewhere, but I want to do a lot of pickles. I have dill tucked here and there, and even planted some more in one of the front flowerbeds yesterday to get ready when this later patch of cucumbers does. We love pickles and they have been a great boost to Rob’s dieting, since they are very low-calorie. He’s almost wiped out my supply, so it’s time to do many more jars.

Once this yellow zucchini starts pollinating we are going to have a ton! There are some green zucchini bushes as well. You have to have a male blossom open to pollinate these females…a couple finally opened this week, so I know I now have hope for the zucchini to grow and produce as long as the insects did their job. Rob eats zucchini almost daily in his morning scramble, so I’m excited that I won’t have to buy them any more. It’s not that a zucchini is expensive, it’s that it’s going to be so handy to be able to pick them and get most of what we need from the back yard when Rob is laid up after surgery. I will have lots of choices to feed him without leaving home.

The tomatoes are growing well, and I’ve picked a small handful of the Glacier Ultra Early ones.

I have peppers in a couple of places. They are not setting fruit yet, and look a little sad. They want more heat. Next week, they should get some! The Alderman Telephone Peas in the back love this cool weather we’ve been having, but there are no blooms yet. Let’s hope the heat doesn’t fry them:)

There is a bumper crop of raspberries this year. These are the ever-bearing ones. They are smaller, and not so sweet as the June-bearing kind I have, but I get berries sooner in the season, and later into the fall from them. I’ve frozen several trays of them and we eat them fresh, or in a bowl with a little milk or 1/2 and 1/2 on them sprinkled with a little sugar. The June-bearing kind are just starting to ripen, one here, and one there, and I have a huge amount of green ones on the bushes.

I’m getting about a quart -1/2 gallon of strawberries every couple of days. We’ve had them on ice cream, in smoothies, and sliced in bowls. Jake loves them sliced with a little sugar on them. I’m delighted, since it’s difficult to get him to eat very many healthy foods. I’m freezing the rest.

The weeds are growing as well as the rest of the garden, probably even better. Instead of despairing, I just try to hoe or weed out a few each day. Yes, I will never finish, but, I’m also getting an awful lot of good food despite the weeds that keep cropping up every time I turn my back:)

Rob’s snapdragons and pansies look so pretty by the herbs. You can see that the rhubarb is already growing back from when I pulled each and every stalk a few weeks ago.

It’s really almost ridiculous, the amount of snapdragons that grew from those little Dollar Tree seed packets! We have them in lots of places, along with other flowers–some Rob grew, some we bought, and some were wintered over from last year. It’s looking pretty good around here, and I feel good about the garden’s progress.

I will not be suffering from lack of work once Rob is laid up next week after surgery, but I do feel like I have as good of a handle on it all as I possibly can. We have family members already lined up to come help me out, so I know I can go out and pick things, weed a little, etc. And, the best part is that he will be getting better each day instead of worsening as he is doing now. In a few months, who knows what he will be able to do? But, even when he is recovering, after the first couple of weeks, he should be able to transplant his little baby plants, and so forth. For now, I’m under strict instructions to water them each and every morning, without fail. I can handle that!