Finding Joy in Growth

Judging from the background, our blog has been very neglected in 2014.  It may have something to do with the bountiful harvest we've had and the time it has required to enjoy it.  Our last post shared the joy I find in the potted flowers around our house.  I've decided that gardening, including weeding is good therapy for me.  I find a lot of joy in planting, nurturing and harvesting the fruits of our labor.  I find joy in knowing our family is eating healthy food (well some of us at least). I find joy in feeling like I am contributing economically by canning and storing food we grow. I find joy in giving away the abundance of our produce.  I find joy in giving our kids purpose for being outside and teaching them how to grow and store food.  I find joy in watching them discover a hidden zucchini, bundles of beans, or the biggest, tastiest cucumber I've ever seen.

Our harvest season started with our raspberry bush.  This is the most berries we've ever had at one time from our bush. Madelyn is our raspberry girl. She loves to pick and eat them. We are lucky she shares any with us :)

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I'm still working on the space management.  The zinnias over took my onions and my bush beans were, well pole beans.  They were and continue to be extremely productive.  I could pick beans everyday. 

 Every year Jason has access to free sweet corn, so we froze 32 pint/quart bags this year.

 Our zucchini's grew huge.  I recognize normally zucchini is picked when it is much smaller.  But with all the rain these were huge and tasty all the way through. The larger zucchinis are also great for breads and muffins.

 Then the beans...and more beans...and more beans...I might just be sick of eating beans and zucchini now.  We canned about 21 quarts of beans from 3 small rows of beans.  It is late August and these things just keep producing!  I love that my girls...well the first month...could be found picking beans at all times of day without being asked.  We could have beans for supper every night.

 I've been more creative with my meal planning than I have in years past.  This isn't the best picture but it was a tasty way to eat some corn, tomatoes, and zucchini from our garden.

 Although we did not grow these blueberries, we will enjoy them all winter. We frozen nearly 20 pounds of Michigan blueberries.  Nearly 20 pounds because someone..ahem. may have helped herself throughout the process and I certainly enjoyed a peach blueberry pie.

 We also had the opportunity to get some yellow transparent apples. They were a lot of work as they were small and many were drop apples, but we managed to get 18 quarts of applesauce out of the bushels we had.  I was so glad to have my mom's help since the apples required a lot of cutting.  I am looking forward to canning more applesauce with fall apples.  The girls are old enough they really are helpful.  The girls did all the cranking and most of the jar filling.

 I am still not sure why Callie decided to wear a skirt on her head.  Yes...her head is through the leg hole.

 The girls have been eyeing the carrots all summer. They were slow to germinate, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the carrots.  I've never grown carrots before.  Root vegetables were hard for the kids because they couldn't see the actual carrot growing and kept pulling up the greens too early.

Carrots!!!!!!!!

"On guard" 

Although I don't have pictures yet, this next week will be filled with school, officiating volleyball, and canning tomatoes. Our plants are giant and were free of disease until last week, so our fruit is large and turning quickly.  We also enjoyed turning our first peppers of the season into stuffed peppers.  Yum! 

I understand why God placed Adam and Eve in a garden paradise to begin his journey with human kind. It provides beauty, nourishment, and purpose through toil.