My insanity… grows in the dirt!!??

Good day my friends!!

Welcome back to Marmie’s Empty Nest.  I am so glad you are back for another visit… or perhaps for your first visit!

Today I want to write about my insanity.  Bear with me…

It’s that time of year…. Harvest!  Yay!

I love this time of year… the beautiful golden wheat swaying hypnotically in the breeze .  The barley standing  as straight and tall as a soldier, awaiting the swathers wrath.

The farmers working frantically from dawn until late in the night.

Everyone is busy rushing, trying to beat the elements whether it be rain or snow.

The eqipment is in high gear…swathing…combining.. baling hay and stacking mountains and mountains of it for the stock.  All are aware of the need for a full winter’s worth of feed..

The prayers almost audible… Please Lord.. no breakdowns…   Please … and no rain yet… Thank You.. Amen.

I of course also love our farmers.  (Hey I married one!!!)  Hardworking and industrious against all odds.  They are there providing for both man and beast.  The work never ends,  it does sound quiche, but it’s the truth.

Then there is the other smaller scale harvest.  It takes place on farms and in cities.  All those lush wonderful gardens overflowing with beautiful produce that was so meticulously planted in may.  They are bursting at the seams awaiting it’s own little harvest.

Corn, purple beans, yellow beans, green beans, peas, chard, spinach, dill, cukes, squash, lettuce, beets, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, red, russet, white, (by the bushels), broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, radish, parsnips, green peppers, jalapenos, kale, herbs of many kinds… Whew!  I can’t even remember all that gets planted.  Thankds of course to my hubby….;0

We are supposed to be slowing down I am told… we are empty nesters… I guess ‘they’ are right.  Not now yet though…  Someday we will have a small garden.  Perhaps.  Someday.  Not this year.  This year the garden was about 150 ft X 40 ft.  God only knows why we do such a big garden… 

Now comes the fun.

It all has to come in.  We all know how this feels don’t we.

Here we  are frantically trying to get our garden in before the frost. Knowing that the minute we get it in the house we have to do something with it!

 

Aha!  Oh ya…now we get to my original question…

What is the definition of insanity?

Well certainly I can tell you Webster’s definition, or you can just look it up yourself…  But it is my definition I want to share today.

Insanity means…Homemade, Hand Made and all from Scratch… and it likely came from the moist dark earth!

Yup.. Insanity in this case, is me….

…On second thought…perhaps the question should be what does it look like?  What size is insanity!!???  My answer would be 150 ft X 40 ft of black dirt!!!

WHY???  Why do I do this to myself!!?

Yes.  Why??

Some say I am nuts to go through all this work to put up some produce, make jams and jellies, pickles and relishes and try how ever many new recipes every year!

They have seen me… (my family and friends) , they know and they are the perfect witnesses!  They are likely right.  (Shh… don’t tell them I said that..)  I can’t deny this self inflicted exhaustion that I feel after a couple/three weeks of this!  I must be insane.

Plumb Bob Loony Tunes!

But the mess!!!

 

 

 

 

Ahh…Man! I really despise that part!!!                                                                                   

But, aside from the mess, I simply like it.  No…  I love it.

There is nothing like cracking open a fresh jar of peaches in January.  I don’t personally like the stuff (weird I know)  but my hubby does… my kids do…. my friends do… and frankly that is all that matters to me.  But I am a confessed pickle princess!!!  I could eat pickles any time of day… mmmm peanut butter and pickle sandwiches….num.

The joy I experience especially at Thanksgiving or at Easter or Christmas when I have that selection of horderves, and pickles and such scattered in pretty dishes all over the tables..  Well I can’t explain it.

It is just… satisfying.  It makes me feel happy and proud, if I am honest.

It also brings me back to a time with my Mother when I would help her with all of the prep and such of her canning.  We most certainly did not have even a remotely healthy relationship, but..  I believe good things always come to a person in every situation.  (If you look for it)  

I do thank God for what she did teach me.  To cook, to preserve foods, to sew, and to be strong and independent.

How many pickled peppers did we pick you ask?

A lot!!!!  Here is pictorial of some of the numminess that was prepared this year for our larder.   (haha… I like that word, except now I feel old) !

 

Marmie’s (that’s me )  home made pickle spice mix!

There is apple jelly, drambuie apple jelly, jalopeno apple jelly, pommagranite jelly, raspberry jam and jelly and syrup, blueberry burbon fruit spread,  strawberry jam,  balsamic strawberry with red peppercorn jam and a few more kinds…

My kind of picnic basket!

Where is the wine and cheese!?

 

Hot pickled peppers and Salsa!!!  The hotter the better!

 

  Chokecherry Jelly

 

 

 

Pincherry Jelly

 

We had baked spagetti squash last night … so delicious!  I baked it and served it like a very low cal/carb pasta topped with some homemade salsa and a bit of feta cheese!  WOWZERS!  I am looking forward to making Jerry some pumpkin pies when they all ripen.  Right now they are nicely adorning my family room!

 

Charlie Browns ‘Great Pumpkin”

 

 

Eventually this will be Pasta sauce and some uber fabulous salsa.   As they turn red I pop ‘em in a freezer bag and when I am ready to use them, I run them under the hot water and I am able to easily pop their skin off.  Voila!! Ready to use!

 

 

 

(We wanted to pick them before a frost and were luck we did…. It froze the very night we managed to get them in!! Yay!  We made it.)

 

 

I love Corn in a big way!! This year we ate it for weeks until we tired of it (yes you can even have too much of a good thing!)  Now it is nicely off the cob, quickly blanched and frozen in Zip Lock for use all winter long.  Yummy!

You will need a nice sharp knife… my girlfriend gave me a gift of a set of Tomadochi Knives…. I love them.  I went out and bought a few more to top up the set!  (beware… crazy sharp!  I cut my self pretty good the first time I used them!  I guess my old ones were more dull than I thought! lol)

Oh my gad zooks this has gotten way too long!! So sorry… besides it’s my bed time… Jerry is home from working nights.  (Now I can go to sleep!)

Till later my friends…

Please leave me a note and let me know your favorite home made goodies.  Do you still make them or do you know someone who did?

Well best run for now and bag some Z.z.z.z.z.z.’s   It’s been a slice as usual!  (no pun intended… well maybe a little bit )

Have a super day!

Marmie