HARVEST!!!

In the last week we have picked hundreds of pounds of food! Potatoes, tomatoes, beans, SQUASH, cukes, pumpkins, peppers... apples, pears, plums. It is hard to believe HOW MUCH STUFF we have picked -- my kids have been fun to watch as they TRY to comprehend! We have been eating some fabulous meals -- the other day I picked all the little squash that will not have time to mature and we feasted on sauteed baby squash/carrots/onions/garlic in butter -- YUM!!!! The goose berries and currants are made into jelly (and my nephews and neice LOVE uncle john's jelly!)
The store has been blowing out stuff grown here in WA -- peaches, nectarines, pears and plums and I have eight pounds of dried friut. It is not until you realize that 1lb dried equals ten lbs fresh that you really go "WOW!". I have five diff. kinds of apples, three kinds of pears and some of the apples are over 1lb each! I am shooting for 30 lbs of dried fruit -- most of it in small chunks we use in oatmeal and some in "chips" for snacks. I am drying some tomatoes as both, because I found I like tomato chips to snack and cooking with dried chunks is fun and tasty! I'm soooo busy between homeschooling and harvesting/processing that I just drop when I stop. I'm soooo tired but waaaaay blessed! I'm hoping to find more apples needing picked in yards around town because then we will make (and freeze) cider!!!
Anyway, wanted to pop in for the longest time and let y'all know I'm alive and I care... but it will be a bit afore I can dig out from under all this blessing
hope you all are getting blessed as I am!!!
john

How very awesome John!!! What a blessing for you and your family

Now I'm hungry

You are a blessing John and don't forget that. It's so good to see a positive post from you

Sounds like all your hard work is paying off friend

Frost hit the other night so we spent all day yesterday gleaning -- and it was impressive! Still, it was kinda sad to chop down the plants into the compost pile. Almost everything was worth planting and some of it was just insanely productive. I will be stewing and saucing tomatoes... making apple butter and canning, freezing, drying till I am sick of food! Still got a TON of sorting to do and there will be a lot to do over the next month or so. But, lemme tell ya, it feels good to have a year's worth of food put up. There is not a horizontal surface that is not covered in food stuff! I'm soooooo worn out I don't think I have sat down without some food project in weeks. MDW was starting to give me a bit of a ribbing over drying as much as I am... but she conceedes that it is GOOD. Was funny the other day on the news, they did a feature on "how to save money" and I coulda TAUGHT them a few things -- but we all laughed that we were doing EVERYTHING they suggested.
What is good is finally feeling a bit of peace within myself in the first time in a long time. We are really living the life! We have so danged much fun in our day it is hard to believe. We lauighed so hard tonight we all hurt. Yeah, I hurt soooooooo bad, but that changes not -- so why not live big? I am blessed to be able to have all four kids at home, and to be a part of what they do. Tonight we did AWANA and I am Game Director for Sparks (K-2). Now, my youngest went into 3rd so none are in Sparks, but my older two serve as leaders in training, and my boys are in T+T club. I just love those kids -- it is a real small church, but they put heart and soul into club... and I just have too much fun playing games with 'em to give it up. They LOVE parachute games and I love the joy on their little faces.

Well thank you again for all your nice words... and sorry to be so MIA. I DO promise that when (if?) things slow down, I'll be here more
hugz, john

John you are blessed! If I give you my address, will you send food just kidding! Congratulations on the harvest!! all of your hard work and worrying paid off Check in when you can my friend and enjoy all of that healthy eating