First Picking

Tonight I went in search of squash bugs who are wreaking havoc on my plants and was surprised to find I had a full-fledged harvest on my hands.

I filled a 3- gallon bucket with zucchini, a yellow squash, 15 green chilis and a big handful of jalapeños.

This little picking will result in quinoa and chili stuffed zucchini, fresh salsa, zucchini bread and a garden omelet. Yum! To keep things as homegrown as possible, I'll use our garden tomatoes that we canned three years ago for the salsa, and farm fresh eggs for the omelet and zucchini bread. Our new tomatoes are abundant but green so we 'll be waiting a bit for them otherwise they'd be anchoring the salsa.

I love the harvest! I love this time of year when we start bringing to the table the fruits of our labor. I'm so grateful I felt well enough to plant and tend our tiny garden this year. And, I'm eagerly anticipating the corn, beans, eggplant and winter squashes that are still coming along.

It's time to plant for a fall harvest and I think this is the year I'm going to join in that tradition. I'm grateful, too, for the land and water to grow our food and critters. We're so blessed!

Hope you've had a great summer!

Love from the farm,
Teri

What's In the Pot?

Ummm, these guys.

But there's a really good reason and it was only for like seven minutes, I swear!

We have A LOT to catch up on.

Talk soon,

Love from the farm,
Teri

Happy Progress

So you know how every time someone says, "You probably can't see it but this slide shows..." and you think to yourself, "Why are you using it if we can't see it?"

Well, you're about to have one of those moments. Because you probably can't see it very well but my spice cabinet looks really fabulous. I mean lovely, warm and welcoming. As welcoming as peppercorns and curry powder can be, that is. And, you probably also can't see it but my lovely mortar and pestle is there in the corner and just makes these beautiful herbs and spices come alive. Bliss.

This is real progress for me. Before the transformation, this cupboard was sticky with molasses and chia seeds and overflowing with multiple baggies - many torn and leaking - of various aromatic substances. It was a huge mess. Now it's pretty. And it makes me happy.

I don't know how many times I've walked into the kitchen and opened the cupboard just to stare at this sight. One more little corner of my world set in order. I love order.

The humongous stainless steel bowl and plastic basin of leftover bottles of duplicate and random spices are tucked in an upper cupboard out of sight where I don't have to see them every day - I can just look at these prettily packaged ones. I can live with that. And I'm content knowing the quart jars of bulk spices are still hanging out under the hutch, too.   Not sure but that I might have a bit of a fixation here. I don't care -- herbs and spices look and smell pretty and we're well prepared to have savory culinary adventures even if in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.

Well, this post went places I hadn't planned.

Oh well.

Love from the farm,
Teri