As the Garden Grows

Well, canning season has hit. I have put up 36 quarts of green beans and about 20 more of assorted cucumber pickles and squash pickles. I will pick green beans again today! I should get another 7 quarts from that picking. The squash are slowing down a bit. Some of the older plants are getting bacterial wilt. The cucumbers are still going strong. I've been making kosher dills, jalapeno dills, and a few bread & butter. Our family's favorite is dills. I even made 4 quarts of pickled beets, they're so pretty. I plan to can some of the squash I have in the refrigerator tonight, I have frozen some shredded squash for bread and patties later. There are blackberrries in the refrigerator to make a couple of cobblers tonight. I have 6 quarts in the freezer too. I will probably be able to pick about a gallon more of these berries before they give out. There is so much work to do and my kitchen stays in a mess, but I still enjoy it. I get a wonderful sense of accomplishment along with a boost of self sufficiency. A lot of my co-workers think I am crazy...why go to so much trouble when you can buy that stuff at the store? Well, they just don't get it. Most of them, sadly, probably never will. They'll never experience the pride and joy of working the soil, planting the seed, nurturing the tiny seedlings into adulthood, harvesting the bounty and preserving it. I just feel like it is something I have to do, should do. It just comes naturally to me to do this every year. I don't ever question "why do I do this"; it is just part of me.