Weekend Work Is Never Done

Hello All,

After a truly lovely day at the beach with some dear friends yesterday, today it's back to the work of homesteading.  I'm in the process of learning those all important homesteading skills.  This is the one I practiced today:  canning peaches.  We have a place about 2 miles from our house that grows the MOST incredible peaches.  The juiciest, sweetest, most wonderful peaches I've ever had.  I brought a bunch to the beach yesterday, and we all pigged out on them.  My friend could not believe such delicious peaches are grown right near my house.  She's not a local shopper, per se, and so I think I maybe I may, just may be making a convert of her.  No one seemed to mind the juice dribbling down their chins, fingers or arms!  So delicious. 

I also was instructing Maestro in the fine art of canning peaches.  He's at the age where he wants to help with things, and since most of this job is not suited to him (sharp paring knives and boiling water the culprits), I gave him the task of stirring the bubbles out of the jars before the lids went on (he really liked the whole wooden chopstick thing), and he also measured the head space to be sure I had 1/2 inch between the lid and the fruit.  I'm gonna make some kinda chef out of him yet, he loves to cook.  And I look at it this way, perhaps he'll provide these things for me when I'm too old to do it for myself.  One can only hope!

We have a neighbor who's name I do not know.  One of these days, I'm hoping to meet them in person.  They own a gorgeous house and barn and one horse to enjoy it.  They also have a wonderful vegetable garden which is displaying it's bounty in earnest.  They so kindly leave a big bench out in front of the barn, where they have placed their excess produce from the garden.  Along it is a "FREE VEGGIES!" sign.  I am not one to pass up fresh veggies to start with and honestly, the whole free thing is quite a bonus, but I'm so loving that my neighbor would leave those out for anyone who might want them.  Such a wonderful, neighborly thing to do!!  I look forward to driving by to see what is offered  up and I will stop and snag a few things if I know we will use them...but I never take all of it.  I want other neighbors to have the same opportunity they are granting me. 

This is the lovely corn that they left yesterday along with a HUGE zucchini!  I grabbed one the other day and we enjoyed some muffins for breakfast, so yummy!

And these are some wonderful tomatoes and cucumbers that were there a couple of days ago.  I stopped today to pick up a few more and will make some sauce to freeze soon.

As far as getting more things ready for winter, I did manage to get 24 cups of blueberries frozen up that we picked last weekend and today I froze some string and wax beans which I got at the farmer's market.  I have many more bags of beans to buy, but just bought what I knew I'd have time to process today.  So much work, so little time! 

Wishing you the pleasures of the hand made life, ~Peacemom