Well, I suppose it's time for my monthly update, lol. It seems like I update once a month, but I guess it's more like once a week. Anyway, not much has been going on on the homestead. We've been finishing up getting the last of our fall crops in the ground, which has been hard to even think about considering the super hot weather. But, if I wait for the signs of the weather, I'd be too late. So with the blazing heat, we've been out harvesting more of the current crop, as well as trying to make way for the new. I had quite a few fall transplants that just weren't willing to wait another day to get into the ground. They were more than outgrowing their little pots so we went ahead and cleared a bit of room and got 'em in. So we've planted our broccoli and cauliflower,
as well as our leafy greens: collards,
My personal fave as far as greens go...spinach,
And new to us this year, we're trying our hand at growing (and hopefully eating, lol) kale and swiss chard.
We will be interplanting some more carrots and onions and herbs with them as well. It seems like as soon as we get one space cleared, the next crop is going immediately in. So we cleaned up some more area to get in those crops, and we also needed to make quite a bit of space for our wheat to go in. Sooo we decided to call in the experts to help us get the job done. LOL.
We let a couple of the girls out to free range while we got things cleared out, and they were more than happy to come in and grab any crickets, or other bugs that we might have missed, lol. They also do a pretty good job of tilling the land, too. They do enjoy the tomatoes a bit too much, so we had to keep them out of the tomato sections as much as possible. But they didn't mind helping us clear out the rest of the pumpkin patch and other areas that needed "weeding".
But they've been pulling their weight around here lately, (those two ladies lay daily now, we're so blessed to be going into our 2nd week without having to buy eggs!)
so we thought they'd enjoy the time away from the rest of the flock. And I think everyone else enjoyed themselves while the "Head Chicks in Charge" were away as well
AJ has been away all week at our church's summer Student Spiritual Convocation, and lo and behold the garden decides to start producing like crazy! So I've had a very busy week trying to weed the garden, clear some space for the last of the fall crops to get in the ground, gather all the ripe veggies, and get them either on our plates (plan them as part of this weeks menu), and/or put up before they go bad. All by myself! (This is the part where you feel bad for me, lol) But, I finally have a (tiny break), and thought I'd share some pics of what I've been up to.
The tomatoes are ripening daily (we planted 2 different types this year - Beefsteak and Roma, the 3rd type, our beloved cherry tomatoes, just come by themselves and take over!) So I have a basket load similar to this each day.
So I've been making tomato paste and sauces for canning/freezer with the Romas
And my Beefsteaks, although pretty
are much too watery for making sauces, so they're either used immediately in salad or salsa, or frozen along w/the cherry tomatoes, to use later in the year for recipes that call for diced tomatoes.. These usually would have taken me FOREVER to get all of these frozen and put up because I always went through the traditional methods of making the little "x" at the bottom, blanching and then quickly rinsing and peeling, then processing by either canning or freezing. But I found this great video on freezing them whole (even the large tomatoes) and I'm hooked! I tried it out first with the first few Roma's that came in before the others where ripe, and took them out of the freezer when it was time to make sauce and it worked just like the video! (You'll notice that 3 of the Roma's in the pot don't have skin, they were the frozen ones) Check out the video for yourselves. This method makes it so easy, I just add to the bag daily.
As for the squash, it's a different story
WAY too many to eat at once, although we love our squash, it's getting overwhelming, lol. So instead of forcing my family to eat it so much that we start to hate it. I decided that some of it must go...to the freezer. You'll notice that I choose freezer methods whenever possible as opposed to canning, the reason for this is two fold. Although I don't mind canning, and it looks pretty in the cabinet, I simply have more freezer space than I do cabinet space. We have a huge chest freezer that beckons for a winter supply of foods to be stored away. I can barely fit the current weeks groceries in the cabinets (we don't have a pantry). Also, freezing is (most of the time) easier/quicker! With me doing most of the puttin up, sometimes it's hard finding that chunk of time to process and water bath everything. Freezing the squash did take a bit of time as well though.
First I cut them in the types of pieces I will be using them throughout the year, which for me is most often, quartered (for our favorite Squash Casserole, yum!)
Then I process them in 2 - 3 cup batches, because that is how I'll be freezing them, since that is typically how much I use per recipe. To process them, I take a batch and blanch them in water that I have already boiling (I use the little steamer type basket because it makes it easier to get them all out immediately when boiling time is up) for 3 minutes.
When 3 minutes is up, take the entire basket and plunge the pieces into ice cold water (literally, with ice in it, already prepared) to stop them from cooking
Then using a slotted spoon, I move the squash to another container, to make sure all the liquid has drained, then place them in their bag and label. You see here, one batch finished and in bag, and another waiting to be bagged. I repeat the process with each batch, adding more ice to the water as often as necessary (i.e. almost every batch)
All finished! I ran out of bags in the end, lol. So that little sandwich bag is portioned and labeled as the others, but will go inside another bag to protect it from freezer burn. I ended up freezing 5 1/2 lbs of squash that day.
This is what was left over from that days harvest (to be used in dinner). (The zucchini ended up as our beloved Chocolate Zucchini Bread- so it was actually breakfast/snack)
Finally snagged a pic of some of those bell peppers before I used 'em up, lol. I wish I could freeze some of them, but we just eat 'em too fast!
Well, that's all for now. Sorry for such a long post, that tends to happen when I wait so long in between posts
How do you all deal with your harvest? I love seeing pics of everyone's gardens and homesteads!
Well, our "Urban Homestead" garden is in full swing, now! We are harvesting produce daily.
Here's a sample basket of some of our garden goodies that will most surely be involved in dinner sometime this week...
Corn and squash (this day's harvest had about 6 ears of corn, 5 summer squash - 3 huge, 2 med-small, a couple of bell peppers [which I always chop up before I remember to snap a pic, lol] and about 2 lbs of beans, yesterday. )
And promises of more to come...Our first pumpkin is forming! And it is quite big for a sugar pumpkin, I can't believe it's not starting to turn orange yet. I don't know how much bigger it's planning on gettin, lol, but it's hanging from a trellis, so hopefully not much more! Man, I can almost taste the pumpkin pies/ bread/etc now, mmmm...
And the tomatoes have taken their cue as well....
So, with the plethora of veggies coming, grocery shopping was a (cheap) breeze, this week. And the menu is bursting w/fresh from the "homestead" produce.
Mon.
B- Chocolate Coffeecake
D- Pasta Provencale (penne pasta w/ tomatoes, squash, zucchini,bell pep, onions, garlic, mushrooms --SO Good, and all provided by our land but the grlc &mshrms) & Garlic Bread
Tues.
B- Spinach Potato Fritatta
D- Beef and Bean Chimichangas (baked) w/spanish rice and beans
Wed.
B- Blueberry Struesel Muffins
D- Fish patties, rice pilaf, corn on the cob
Thurs.
B- Egg Burritos
D- Pizza (sausage, and TONS of veggies - whatever we have) & salad
I'm a wannabe in every sense of the word. I wanna be good enough to make it to heaven, but Jesus died because I will never be. I wanna be a mom of ten living on a farm in the middle of nowhere, training my girls to honor God & their husbands, by being content, happy homemakers...yet God has seen fit to bless us with the opportunity to help rear for Him two boys (22 and 12), in the middle of suburbia ;) I wanna be a helpmate to my husband in every way possible, yet more often than not, I'm in his way, lol. I wanna be the perfect parent, that raises perfect children, yet I am constantly humbled by the fact that only He is perfect, and I must allow him to lead. I wanna be the ultimate caretaker of my temple, and the pinnacle of health to all around me, yet no amount of healthy eating/exercise keeps me from dropping to my knees often, in need of healing from the Great Physician. I could go on and on about the the things that I am trying to be, but I invite you instead to come and join me as I travel on my path toward virtue... ~Proverbs 31:10-31~
(This is the part where you feel bad for me, lol) But, I finally have a (tiny break), and thought I'd share some pics of what I've been up to. 
These usually would have taken me FOREVER to get all of these frozen and put up because I always went through the traditional methods of making the little "x" at the bottom, blanching and then quickly rinsing and peeling, then processing by either canning or freezing. But I found this great video on freezing them whole (even the large tomatoes) and I'm hooked! I tried it out first with the first few Roma's that came in before the others where ripe, and took them out of the freezer when it was time to make sauce and it worked just like the video! (You'll notice that 3 of the Roma's in the pot don't have skin, they were the frozen ones) 
The exhausted (& missing her baby) Wannabe
