It’s the harvest time of year, the time when we reap the rewards of the fruits of our labor….literally!! As all gardeners know, successful crops vary from year to year, depending on what Mother Nature has in store for us during the season.
This year, we’ve had a bumper crop of potatoes, onions, beets and cucumbers. You can see our canned beets in the photo to the left. I also did something new this year, I made pickles, Refrigerator pickles to be exact. They are oh so easy and oh so good!! I followed the recipe in the link above. Here they are- YUMMMMY (I hope)
Can’t wait to try them, after sitting at room temp for two days, you then refrigerate and try to wait 2 weeks till they’re perfect. They last about 2 months in the fridge. I used our own dill and garlic!
I am often asked how I manage to run a business and garden and put food by for the winter and raise chickens. Here’s how I see it….obviously it takes a great deal of time to do any one of these tasks much less all of them.
Our secret is in family dedication….dedication to the art of gardening and living sustainably. When this is a big priority you just seem to find the time. I canned these pickles at 7:30 p.m. because I found it FUN, big key word here…..FUN!!! Now, here’s my biggest secret – having a 19 yr. old daughter still at home, that is just as dedicated is a HUGE help…..cat’s out of the bag now….I think it’d be near to impossible to do it alone. So, the three of us, myself, Russ and Becca are dedicated to this lifestyle and that’s a big help!
Plus, as I have mentioned before, getting outside and putting my hands in the dirt, helping to bring plants and flowers to life and onto the table has such a balancing affect on me. It helps to everything into perspective!
To nurture Nature is to nurture ourselves……………
Tags: balancing, chickens, environmentally, family, gardening, nature, nuture, sustainability
Great ideas here, thanks. I honestly took the plunge and got me some chickens last week! Now I have more eggs than I know what to do with!. You might like these egg recipes.
I love meeting fellow chicken lovers!! Last night we finally incorporated our new 7 girls into the coop with the older girls. They have been living right next door to each other since they arrived as chicks, so they are quite used to each other. We went out late at night and took the new group into the “real’ coop. As of this morning they are all alive and well and living together peacefully. Gotta love those peaceful chickens! What kinds of chickens do you have? We now have 3 Australorps, 2 buff rocks,1 barred rock, 2 Americaunas, 2 gold laced Wyandottes, 2 Welsummers, 1 plymouth rock.