As I recently mentioned, both Tom and Glenn grow huge gardens every year. And they share, which we like. We happened to be in Twin the weekend before school started (you know, we like to grace our parents with our presence every so often) and we helped ourselves to two large boxes of fresh produce. One from each house.



Tom is really proud of the height of this corn. Anyway, we came home with quite a spread. Red potatoes, yukon potatoes, zucchini, peaches, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, red onions, yellow onions, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, corn, and rhubarb. Hooked up!



It's like going to the Farmer's Market without the crowds or the assholes who always bring their dog even though there are very large sandwich boards that clearly state, "don't bring your fucking dog to piss in a place where food products are being prepared and sold!" Or something like that.

Obviously, neither the Boise Farmer's Market nor dogs are my favorite things. Thank God we have dads from pet-free homes who have continued to supply us with free food well into our thirties.

Let's take a break from the European Share-A-Thon, shall we. Because while some of us are jet-setting across the globe, others of us are just going about our daily lives barefoot and in the kitchen - like any good man.

Stephen has been growing a garden for three years now. Both our fathers also grow large gardens and share their harvests throughout the growing season. So we've always got a shit ton of fresh produce sitting around waiting to be prepared or preserved by our loving hands. Except we're pretty inefficient when to comes to using fresh produce in a timely manner, meaning our compost is typically overflowing by October.

But this year has been different. We've still tossed a few cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchinis - but overall we are doing much better. As you might remember, Stephen pickled beets in July. In August he made dill pickles and sauerkraut. I only have pictures of the sauerkraut, although you can catch a glimpse of the pickles in this first picture.



Stephen made sauerkraut last year that wasn't nearly as good as this year's batch. Same thing with the beets. Trial and error. Anyway, our pantry is now on its way to being nicely stocked with homegrown canned goods, just the way it should be!



Also, I would like to point out that I attempted to make fruit leather using this recipe. It came highly recommended but, of course, I botched it. It never really hardened or lost its moisture. But I was off to a good start and at least I tried to use the plums rather than tossing them in the composter. There's something to be said for that, right?

I love pickled beets. They are like my fav. But only within the last four or five years. I used to hate them. But only because I never had the balls to try them. You see, for as much as I like food, I grew up pretty picky. It wasn't until I met Stephen that I started trying new foods like beets and tomatoes so that he would think I was cool.



We made pickled beets two years ago. Stephen found a recipe with cloves, which made my mouth go numb for some reason. Stephen's grandmother grows a huge garden on her farm in Castleford, Idaho each year. When she found out that he had added cloves to his beets, she set his foolish ass straight. No one with any sense puts cloves in their beets!

So this year we used her recipe. I can already tell that the beets are going to taste much better and no strange numbness. I helped this year, too. I picked all the beets and put them next to the sink. I know, call me a farm girl, quick!

Stephen took care of the rest. We only got five jars total. I was a little disappointed. I thought our harvest would have yielded at least 10 jars. Now there is no sharing - too bad for you.



Stephen tried to dye a remnant of white fabric with the beet juice. It didn't work. I imagine he needed some vinegar or something, like when you dye Easter eggs. I know this because I have imaginary farm girl skills.

I also made sauteed beet greens using this recipe. They were fairly delicious. Eatable at least.

Stephen has a friend (who is now my friend, too) whose mother is crazy about fresh flowers. Her home is never without them. Even in the dead of winter. And, of course, her home is beautiful and welcoming. Fresh flowers always seem like a luxury to me and so I never buy them. But I wish that I did. I love seeing a bouquet of flowers on my bedside table or next to a stack of books. It makes me so happy.

On Sunday I stopped by our neighbor's front yard (the fellow who works out of town) and poached some more of his flowers. Tulips and snake grass, although I don't think snake grass technically counts as a flower. And then I stopped by another neighbor's yard and poached some lilacs (and more snake grass). I've actually been given permission to poach these lilacs. At least I was given permission three springs ago and I just assume the offer still stands.



I also had a few flowers left over from Melissa's bridal shower that I refreshed and sorted. Then I set to work arranging big bunches of flowers throughout the house.




They're so simple and beautiful. And lovely. I tend to overuse the word lovely in my writing but it's such a lovely word. I can't help myself. Lovely.

I am taking a break from blogging next week. I might take two weeks. I have some other projects I'd like to focus on. I am feeling a bit tired and as though I have too much on my plate. It's all fun stuff but something has to give because I can't juggle that much creativity at one time. My lunch hour is only one hour after all.

I've also got people in town from far away places and I am hoping to lure in some more people (that's you K & R) criss-crossing the Great West.

I know you'll miss me but don't worry, I'll be back.

One of our local nurseries (the best local nursery, if you ask me) offers free gardening classes for children every Saturday. Stephen somehow happened across this information last week. So on Saturday we loaded up in the ol' family Subaru and headed to Edwards Greenhouse to pawn our children off on someone else for an entire hour free of charge!

 

We misread the start time and showed up a half hour early. But that just gave us time to bumble around and plan our dream garden - have you ever noticed how expensive plants are? It's mind blowing! Anyway, I snapped the two photos above. Henry snapped the two below.

   

And Wyatt took these last two. Their skills are impressive. We might have some artists on our hands...

   

And then it finally was time to start some earthworming - that's the name of the class. Edwards Earthworms.

 

They planted strawberries and peas. And as you can see by the pictures we didn't actually pawn our children off on anyone. We stuck around and participated. We're lame like that. But this Saturday we are out. Those boys can fend for themselves while they learn to harvest the land the cultivate some plants.