Sunday, July 6, 2008

Preserving the Harvest

Peas and strawberries are coming in by the pound. Yesterday I used 5 lbs of strawberries to make eight half-pints of strawberry jam. Mmmmmm. I use the old-fashioned nothing but strawberries and sugar recipe. Thing 1 loves it so much, I need to make at least one more batch to make it through the year. I'm having a bumper crop of peas this year. Last year I planted 50% more peas and I've almost surpassed last year's harvest already, with less than half the peas harvested.

Today I used more strawberries to make some strawberry shortcake. I also baked three loaves of bread, made a batch of potato salad, made a trip to the grocery store, did two loads of laundry, and picked and shelled over a pound of peas (half of which we had braised in butter for dinner).

I really do need to get the boys more involved in the garden. They did pick the strawberries today, and Thing 1 joins me in weeding, but I think they would enjoy/be better off with some gardening knowledge. I haven't pushed it yet, but the time is coming.

We're all pretty tired around here. We did the Lake Union fireworks for the Fourth, and then went to Fremont for the outdoor cinema last night. Both times we didn't get home until after midnight. A general feeling of run-downedness hit today. It'll be good to get back to a calmer schedule. I'll have more time to garden and preserve what comes out of it.

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