Putting Up

It’s been busy around here. From harvesting to watering to putting up. But before I tell you about putting up, I wanted to share something that made my day recently.

With all of the time I spend outside I’ve been on the lookout for some long pants for gardening. They needed to be white and light weight. In the past several years I purchased several pairs at a local thrift store. The first pair I really loved and they are about worn out. I tried online to find them but to no avail. The other two pairs were large and not really meant for working outdoors. Then recently I visited to local Goodwill and while checking out their pants I found exactly what I was looking for. However, before I got too excited I needed to try them out. After they worked great I had an idea. Why not see if I can buy them new. They would cost more than the $3 I paid, but I could get my size and they would probably last me for seasons. So I did.

They are scrub pants! They are perfect – lightweight but strong. They were on sale for $12 – what a bargain. They also will be great pants for my bee suit if I decide to help hubby with the bees.

And did I tell you we got our first batch of honey? Isn’t it pretty?And it’s so tasty!

I cleaned up the beeswax and will be using it this winter in soap, and some salves. We might even make some candles. We are excited about our honey and look forward to seeing how much more the “girls” produce for us. We sure appreciate their hard work.

As for putting up, we’ve been busy. My blueberry harvesting is about over and most of those sweet blue balls are safe and sound in the freezer for our future smoothies and our morning yogurt in winter.

Blackberries are just starting to produce. Those we don’t eat fresh, we rinse, towel off and freeze on a cookie sheet. After they are frozen they are transferred to freezer bags. I’ve always frozen them by two-cups but it’s such a waste of plastic bags. This year I’m freezing them in gallon bags and we can take out what we need. Just makes more sense. I also did that with the blueberries this year.

Dave processed the yellow squash and zukes and froze them. I put them in bags to use this winter.

I really wanted to have my own calendula to use in soap and lotions so Dave grew me several plants.

I dried the blossoms in the dehydrator. I only have a few dried so far. I love how they retain their color.

We have peach trees but ours are too young to produce. Because of that we visit Reid’s Orchard in Owensboro, Kentucky every year for our peaches and apples. We made a trip over there last week and have been eating peaches every day. Yum!

I processed five pounds yesterday for us to use later in smoothies and sorbet.

I’ve just started bagging the lavender I harvested this month. This is the first of my Melissa.

The others are in the garage hanging, just waiting for me to debud and bag. So much to do – not enough time!

Meanwhile Dave harvested our first tomatoes – my favorite called Sungold.

On the cat front,  Dusty is still getting into trouble. Here I caught him after he had put his head in the watering can. Last time this happened, he jerked his head out and the can toppled over with the water spilling all over the kitchen floor.

Got to love that face. Well, that’s all for now. Lots of posts waiting for my time. Hope all is well in your part of the world and you are keeping cool.