Using the Harvest

October 1, 2014

What have you been doing with all of that garden produce this summer? My desire is to eat it straight from the garden. I want to truly eat seasonally so I would prefer to not preserve most of our harvests.

However, we do not do that 100%. I freeze extra produce —

• peas
• green beans
• corn
• tomatoes (to use in soups or sauces later in the year)
• blueberries

Lately, I have been running out of room in the freezer so I made some marinara sauce.We store extra produce in the basement as well —

• potatoes
• sunflowers
• pumpkins
• spaghetti squash
• watermelons

We noticed some spaghetti squash was molding this week so I cut off the molded parts, cooked, and froze those. I saved the sunflowers for the winter for the chickens but I realized now is actually a good time to give them the sunflowers because they are moulting and need extra protein so I am throwing the heads out to them, little by little.

We are also eating the potatoes, little by little. We have about a month’s worth left; which works out perfectly, since that’s when the sweet potatoes will be ready to be harvested.

Of the watermelon that was harvested this year, some were given away but most were put in our basement. We are currently eating the last one and the kids are done. This is what eating seasonally looks like, folks. The first taste of whatever crop is wonderfully anticipated. By the time the crop is done, so are the eaters, typically. 🙂

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Update on a Little Bit of Everything…

May 16, 2013

This spring, we did not have to cover our blueberries because of a frost. Typically, here in NC, we have a very warm week or so in March. This will make our 30-some blueberry bushes bloom as well as our other fruit trees. Then, in April, we will have one or five nights of freezing weather and we’ll have to go cover everything. It is also extremely windy so half of the covers won’t stay on, regardless of how many clothes pins we use to keep them in place. This results in mild to great losses in fruit production.

This year, winter stuck around quite a bit longer than normal so there was not as much fluctuation in temperatures. It was nice not having to cover the fruiting plants but what is even nicer is how prolific they are looking right now!

My next conundrum is how to keep the kids off of them. I would like to be able to harvest & freeze enough to not have to buy any frozen blueberries throughout the year. We eat them in smoothies, in our oatmeal and in our cereal. We also LOVE blueberry jam but I’m not sure we’ll have enough to do all of that.

The question is…how do I keep the kids from stealing my blueberries?! Do I give them each a bush and let them eat from their bush but not touch any other bush? (I can see my 2yo stealing blueberries from other bushes) Do I tell them for every one they pick, they have to put one in the bowl to keep? What I would like to do, of course, is just make them stay away so I can make sure everything is harvested properly…is that too controlly? Whatcha think?

I mentioned in my previous post that the chickens are free ranging now. Not the whole day because we’re not outside the whole day but about half of the day. The dog pesters them now and again but she listens to us pretty well when we tell her not to chase them. She has a good temperament and is pretty quick to learn and obey…me.

I’ve trained her to not chase the chickens (she’ll just sit there as they free range around her) and to lay next to me while I work in the garden (not meander and get into trouble). The next big thing is to teach her our property lines so we don’t have to crate her when we leave the house – so we don’t have to worry about her wandering off.

The kids don’t know how to handle her – she’s just a puppy so she wants to play but she plays by biting their shorts and pulling them down – they’ll learn or she will learn. I’m sure it will get better one day 🙂

Next, I’ll have an update about my poor, pitiful beans, my corn, and lots of my greenhouse transplants.

I’m linking up to Simple Lives Thursday.