What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Busy Season




Strawberry Rhubarb Jam, Stevia-sweetened Strawberry Rhubarb Jam, Blubarb Jam (blueberry rhubarb) and Mixed Berrybarb Jam.

Stevia sweetened jam doesn't set up very well, so if I am to cut back on sugary jams, I'm going to need to figure out a different way to do it.



The last of the garlic scapes used up on breakfast.  


Miss Ineke decided to make a bouquet for the girls' room.


The first time a garden harvest is too big for a single colander is super exciting.  

And I had to take a picture.  
July 7th 2020



Now, the cucumbers are beginning to die down but the tomatoes are coming along...



Ahhhh....back when the baby was content to stay in his neon green prison.  

Those were the days.



Reason number 5,231 why Corynn must never haul off and leave me.


The place we pick blueberries is not open this year so wild huckleberries have to do... they are more flavorful but more tedious and laborious to pick.  

This pie was hard won but easily eaten.  


Good 'ole Ben Franklin has something important to say!


Zucchini Relish


Pickles.

Sadly, probably ALL of these pickles are ruined because I mistakenly thought 'pickling vinegar' was the same thing as 'vinegar' just in a larger, canning size.   (I thought I was very clever indeed to find vinegar in the canning aisle when the shelves of vinegar on the grocery side of Walmart were sold out.)

It's not.  

I followed my usual recipes for pickles and then discovered that 'pickling vinegar' has all the salt and sugar you need already added to it.

So my pickles are DOUBLE salted this year.



May your gardens be fruitful, your kitchens bustling and your evening showers COLD!

PS.  With all the pretty pictures of canning things above, I thought it an appropriate time to show you the bedlam that is the back porch...


You're welcome.

3 comments:

Rozy Lass said...

That last photo says it all--Life is real at your home! Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

I have gotten very good results with Ball's low/no-sugar pectin. I don't think I've ever tried it with NO sugar, I should, but it always works with low sugar. I love that it comes in a can instead of individual envelopes so you can adjust batch size and tweak for what you need. Somewhere on their website (freshpreserving.com) they have a calculator so you can put in how much you have of which fruit and it will give you the rest of the measurements. Good stuff.

Abigail said...

Your porch is my kitchen! What a great, messy burden to have, yes?

That top bouquet has me swooning. I have loved all the bouquets you always have at the house for weekly worship. I usually have Piper and Luci run out and stuff flowers in jars all-in-a-rush on Sunday mornings. I think I'll hire you to come early and do it from now on.

And I must leave this post. Your dastardly picture are making me hungry.