Friday, July 18, 2014

Enjoying the Blessings of the Harvest of Summer!

      I'm thankful for this moment to sit down and write a post! I have been standing on my feet for what feels like two whole weeks! My feet were actually swollen last night when I went to bed! But I'm not complaining! I am so happy to have all this 'stuff'! Since I wrote last, I have picked more blackberries and froze them, picked three gallons of blueberries from a u-pick farm Purchased from a farm: a bushel of corn and froze it; a half-bushel of peas and had them shelled and froze them; a box of canning tomatoes I just finished canning as marinara sauce; a box of peaches that have been made into cobblers, now cooking, to put into the freezer. I made a second batch of sweet pickles with cucumbers from our garden; and yesterday I cut up onions and zucchini from our garden (not the onions) and made zucchini relish. It's delicious! I hope to get another bushel of corn next week and another box of peaches and tomatoes. I also need to cut up the squash from our garden and cook and freeze it. I hope I didn't leave anything out!

      We have also welcomed some new additions to the homestead! Sir Malcolm and Sir Henry, our new bucklings! They are adorable! I'm just having a problem with how the new Moms butt the other one's baby! Oh my! Talking about stressful! All this birthing and babies makes me want to run! I THOUGHT I wanted to milk the mommas, but not now! They won't let me get to them! One baby runs to me and the other runs away! Delilah had Sir Malcolm and another baby that didn't make it. It was a beautiful black doeling! So sad! But I guess that's what to expect with a freshener. Malcolm is really small but hopping around like normal. Daisey had Sir Henry and he's so big! He's  much bigger than Sir Malcolm, who was born a week earlier than him. Like I said, I just don't know what to think about all this birthing stuff! We are going to sell the bucklings and maybe even the parents! I'll keep you updated as to what we decide.

      The weather has been extremely hot and humid until a week ago. This week has been a nice, cooler week with less humidity, until last night. It's cloudy and raining lightly. The temps are lower, in the eighties instead of nineties, but the humidity, whew! At least the hens are laying again!

      Thanks for sitting down with me and reading for awhile! I enjoy the time I share with ya'll and hope to hear from you soon! Blessings from Bama!

I miss these girls too! The pool is now green, so no swimming for me!
Straining blackberry juice for jelly.

Blackberry juice and a few tomatoes from our garden.

I love the color of this daylily. It even has a fragrance!

Love this double-yellow!

Nice passion flower.

Yellow and green squash and zucchini. No one seems to pay attention to the sign in the back!

Cooking chicken breasts in the Sun Oven. It got cloudy so I had to finish them inside.



I wasn't able to capture this at it's prettiest.

Sir Malcolm and Delilah. He's so tiny here!

Fourteen jars of blackberry jelly!

A bushel of corn now in the freezer.

The box of tomatoes, peas, and peaches are now prepared!

Daisey and Sir Henry, freshly born!


Taking advantage of the Vitamix! It made the sauce quicker! I will be doing this again!


That box of tomatoes is now sauce!

Ten more jars of sweet pickles.


Henry and Malcolm.

Malcolm.


Henry.

Nine jars of marinara sauce.

Cobblers awaiting the oven.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Bama Girl! I'm sure your husband is so proud of his wife! You are so incredible! I so wish we were neighbors and we could "put-up" together! I grew up with canning to be a time of ladies visiting while working together and it is hard to do it alone...doesn't seem right, somehow!

    Are you thinking of going out of the goat business entirely? Glad your chickens are laying now! As much cooking and putting-up you do, it would get costly to purchase everything! Those cobblers look wonderful and maybe "egg-y"? Going to freeze them? Would you share your marinara sauce recipe? I would love to make some! We are vegetarian, though.

    Well, I just want to say thank you for the wonderful blog you have. I love the pictures and the "homey" lifestyle you life! Thank you for sharing your life with us! Hugs, Cheeryshirley

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    1. Hi Cheeryshirlyey! Oh hush! Just kidding! That's a Southern slang! It's been a tough job and I've had very little help, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel! It would be fun to have someone to share with!
      At this time with everything going on, I'm considering it. It will be awhile as the babies are too young to sell. Yes it's costly, but I just use my grocery money and we eat what I'm working on that week. This week is lots of cobbler! I didn't go by a recipe I just add a little of this and a little of that. You know how it is! The one in the Ball Blue Book sounds yummy though!
      Thank you so much Cheeryshirley! I'm glad you enjoy it! Blessings!

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  2. Whew girl! You have been working hard. Today I am working on blueberries, jelly, peas, and green beans. I am glad to be inside today. Even though its cooler it is so humid out there. Do you freeze your cobblers?

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    1. Hi MamHen! Sounds like you're a busy wife too! Yes, I am freezing the cobblers. I've never done that before but I think it will work! Thanks for stopping by! Blessings!

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  3. Wow, you have been a busy. I love to see women canning - my mom canned everything - somethings, like meat once pressured canned is fall apart tender. I don't have anything to can yet. Aldi's had blueberries for only $1 - I froze them. I also picked strawberries and froze them too. I remember baby goats here too - so cute! Yes, the mamas butt at the little ones that try to nurse that aren't theirs. Pygmy goats have so much personality - no wonder you can't milk them. I like the larger breeds, we had Nubians. The were very docile and would stand for milking. I never did learn to make the soap....have a great Sunday!

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    1. HI Jacky! How about picking some strawberries for me? I didn't get enough this year! We picked blueberries for $6 a gallon! I thought that was a great price! I wonder about going with a larger breed, but I don't know. Thanks for stopping by! Blessings!

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  4. That is amazing you are putting all this produce up by yourself! That is a LOT of work! When my 2 girls were little, they'd be my corn shuckers/silkers and bean snappers and after only putting up a measly 1 dozen corn the other day, I was thinking about how much I missed their help! :) Your garden is so awesome this year... and your canning photos are mouthwatering! Have a great week!

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    1. Hi Lisa! I bet you miss those days! It's nice to have help, but I'm not used to it. I've learned to be a do-it-yourself person. I'm actually glad the girls haven't been here during this busy season, or I wouldn't have gotten much done. I do miss them though. We have been so blessed with such produce from our garden, and I'm so thankful! Thank you Lisa, you too! Blessings!

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