Prosperous Days and Lots of Patience

 The days here have been so long, that I cannot even remember what I did in the mornings by the time evening rolls in.  It's easy to forget how much work planting a large garden is.  I know it will be worth it, and it is starting out much better than last year (in more ways than one).

Exhausted with a capital E for sure.  Hard work in a good way. I'll be honest, I think we are more happy planting the garden this year.  

I finally got all of the garden in, and rain is in the forecast as I type (praying it does).  We are not planting pumpkins of any kind this year.  We still have a lot in the freezer.  We are sort of on the path of having some garden good last 2 years, so we can start to rotate what we do plant.  

Last year, I did not can any hot pepper relish, sweet pickle relish, can pickles, can jalapenos etc.  I planted 3 types of cucumbers this year.  Praying the harvest is bountiful.

We are talking about expanding it a bit to run the fence a bit more useful, so we plan to till an area  (it's between the asparagus and actual garden, and not really large) and cover it for the winter.  It would also make mowing/trimming less work. 

Speaking of covering the ground, we have seen this thick rubber mat that the Amish use on their gardens.  Does anyone know what it is?  Where do you buy it?  It looks heavy enough the winter winds would not whip it up like a tarp or plastic.

(picked on June 3rd - longest harvest we have ever had)

Now that the asparagus harvest is done for the season, we are looking forward to what's next to harvest.  The fall garlic is looking so much better this year.  After growing it in grow bags, and then raised beds, we have finally decided it's 100% better grown directly in the garden.  Now that it's just us two, we don't need to grow as much either.

Speaking of just us two, I froze way too many strawberries last season (long time habit of a big family), and have more in the freezer than I expected.  I typically use them for baked crumbles or crisps, or even add them to oatmeal breakfast bakes.  We have enough jam on hand too.  Any suggestions?  Muffins maybe?

I will make sure I cut back on what I freeze in the way of fresh fruit this year.

 No new recipes tried.  Heck, dinner has been a challenge in itself.  

Unless you count this dip recipe.  It's a new recipe I tried with a new canned bean, but it's basically like hummus.  It included red onion, so it's like a bean/tahini hummus with a "kick" to it.

No Christmas planning, but hope to get some progress on that.  Maybe.

Prosperous Days and Lots of Patience  ©  June 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart