Labor Intensive! Summer Harvest Time Begins

I tried to upload some pics but I could upload none whatsoever, so there must be some blogger issues going on.  The last two days I have spent every evening picking black currants.  I have a love-hate relationship with these little babies that started on one of my European trips, probably one to Poland, I imagine.  I LOVE black currant juice.  Every European trip I look forward to the black currants and pierogis and the cultural foods of the countries I visit. 

So after one trip I decided I must absolutely have my own black currants.  So I looked locally for them and they were no where to be found.   So I looked on line and found a company somewhere in Oregon, I believe it was.  They sent me their catalog and I was in seventh heaven.  Well I assumed I would be receiving a larger looking bush-like thing when I received my order of 10 starts.  Well, that was what they were.  10 sticks....I also ordered about that many for my mom, too.   I remember wondering if these sticks would ever amount to anything.  We planted them and have had currants ever since.  Some of my bushes are much bushier than the others.  The south side planted ones are big, and the north end of the row is scrawny.  I wondered why.  Last night while finishing up the picking part of the ordeal, I got tangled into an ant pile.  They were all over my legs.  Picking now was even less fun than before and I figure these little pests are the reason that my bushes aren't doing so well in that corner.

It took forever to pick the 4 million berries, which took even longer to clean.  They all come on at the same time and so its a big picking event for me.  What a job it is every late summer about the middle of August.  I was very happy though to have received a cute little camp stool from my daughter when she returned from Bear Lake.  It had come with a large insulated bag that she got me.  I haven't yet used the bag, but I love the stool.  It was perfect for currant picking on the lower bushes.  Saved the back, the knees and it was great.

Then after cleaning those babies, I put them in the steam juicer and got my currant juice.  So I love the juice, but I HATE the slave labor that they incur on me.  The kitchen was a mess and so was I!  I am glad that is over!  But now the next big harvest is the red cabbage, which I prepare, German style, and then I freeze it.  Last year, and several previous years, we have been planting red cabbage.  They are always ready early fall and are another labor intensive harvest.  But not quite as bad as those little mini berries I just finished. 

He's Immune

Yesterday I stayed home to pick, clean and process a million (at least) black currants. I had already done a batch on Saturday which took from about 7:30 am to 9:00 pm to be done with...what a back-breaking job it is to clean those little guys. Anyway, because I never trust my canning, I froze the juice. It is so good. I kept some out for me. So, then I knew that I needed to get the rest in soon and so yesterday, I took my early morning walk, came home and started in on the next batch. I picked till 10:30 in the morning. I thought I would never get done. But I did. Then I picked the other stuff that was ready in the garden. Two big bowls of tomatoes, a bunch of zucchini and other odds and ends.

About 2 or 2:30 I got a call from Tyson, he had fallen out of a tree and hurt his arm, could I pick him up? His mom was at the dentist with Logan and Grayson. OK, I had to pick up Brecklyn at 3:30 from school and take her to dance at a place that I didn't yet know how to get to. So I go and get Ty, and we put some ice on the swollen wrist and waited for Jamie's instructions. She called and said she would be there about another hour or so. She had made an appt. with the doctor for an X-ray at 5:45. OK, I go to school and get Brecklyn then and take her to dance. The GPS tells me the directions and we appear to be going in the right direction and then the voice on the GPS of the "Mothership" (my new van, she needed a name, ya know) tells us we have arrived at our destination. We were on a road in Pleasant Grove, somewhere, but there were no buildings in site. Was this truly our destination? We were in a field of tall grasses and such. Wow, the Vibe studio had a building before! So Brecklyn is getting a little nervous. I wasn't, just very confused. So I reset the GPS for the same place and the friendly voice of the Mothership gives us more directions. Soon we were there. I was really glad that she didn't have to dance in the tall grass. The grasshoppers might have scared her just a bit, hopping around out there.

So, then I knew Jamie had to take Ty to the doctor soon and so I thought I would run my Costco errands and then pick up Brecklyn after that. But Jamie called and said the baby was asleep and would I watch him and Logan and she would pick up Brecklyn and take Tyson right after to the doctor with Brecklyn in tow. So I hurry and checkout (what a bill I had, bought a food saver...) and hurried to Jamie's house. She took off and I now had two boys to tend.

Logan asked where Tyson went and I said to see if his arm was broken. Logan said, "No grandma, Tyson can't break his arm, he's already done that before. (In other words, now he would have immunity against future breaks, I assume) Then he started to do cartwheels and other interesting things in the living room for which I asked him to please stop doing that. Logan said, "No grandma, I am doing 'nastics." Hmmm, sure that makes it alright!

Then Grayson woke up and we played basketball outside. Logan said Grayson loves basketball. I figure it was more Logan that loves basketball than Grayson at this point. But OK, we play.

Then we find out Tyson just has a sprain, for which we are grateful, surely, although they don't feel that great either, but 2 breaks in 10 months for him is a bit much. This climbing stuff at school is getting a bit dangerous. I think Tyson might just flunk recess if this continues. And so my black currants didn't get done yesterday because I didn't get home till 7:30 and by then I was tired. But there was always today...and now they are done. My feet hurt, I'm tired and hey, I don't have anymore currants to deal with tomorrow! Yeah, so that's all for today.

The Apricot Tree

Yesterday Brian brought home a bag of apricots that some friends had given him.  Today when Logan came over he ate a few and then asked what were the hard things inside of them.  I said those are "pits".
What are "pits".  I said, they are their seeds.  Oh, said Logan, I see...

Not too long after, I noticed Logan was not in the house.  I asked Ty if he knew where he was and the answer was no.  So I assumed he had gone home.  After some time, the patio sliding door opened and there stood a rather mud covered Logan.  Oh, let's wash that up, I said and we both headed to the bathroom.  I asked what he had been doing and the reply was, I planted a apricot tree in the garden, one for me and one for Tyson.  And I watered them real good and the rest of your garden, too.

Oh, thanks Logan.  15 minutes later he comes up to me and says, we should go outside now and see how big they grew by now....

Tyson! This One's For YOU!

This year Tyson helped grandpa plant the garden and what a good job he did and helped grandpa's aching back!  It's looking good and we are already reaping the rewards!

Catchin' Up!

As I wrote in my last 2 entries, I was having a real struggle logging into my blog so that I could write something.  Today it worked normally as it had in the past.  I was glad because I didn't like the fact that I couldn't get into my own blog.  Google must have had some techno problems going on.  So now I will post some pictures in no particular order to show what we have been up to.  And that is below:

Logan's last soccer game was last week.  Here he is, arms held high after the first goal

He's keeping track.  Here is 2.

Here's 3!

 Getting a little tangled with the ball...

 Go Logie, go!

 Hard-workin' players, like Logan, get ouchies.  We HATE ouchies, very, very much...

 But we don't let them break our spirit.  And HOPEFULLY not our bones!

It was another great game and the last of the season!

 Brecklyn had a ballet performance and did her usual great performance.  It is the last one of the year.

Pretty, prima ballerina!

I am soooo sorry I missed the evening performance...:(

The garden finally had one Sunny day without rain so that we could get the garden in...

Spence did a great job and Tyson helped on the first day they planted.  Now the little seeds are popping up through the rocky soil of Highland.

And between the rainy days, we squeeze in a little baseball with Tyson!

Casey at the bat!

And that's all for today.  But all in all, a busy active week for this ol' granny!

That Time of Year Again!

I have learned a lesson or two about getting garden plants.  First, that getting starts sometimes is MUCH better for us than just seeds.  Why, because in Highland, it's cold longer in the spring.  Sometimes we just get those babies popping up through the ground when the killer frost comes, and we start all over again.  With plants I seem to have better luck on that department.  Secondly, sometimes my seeds don't ever sprout.  I don't know why.  Once, twice, maybe a few more times I planted some seeds and Spence thought they were weeds sprouting and he cleaned them all up nicely...which is what he recently did with some iris starts I planted.  He thought it was a big weed or something.  I just can't win!

Today Tyson went with me and wanted to grow some plants.  So we went and he got strawberries and a lily plant.  We got on our gloves, dug and planted them nicely in pots.  Watered and then took them home.  He was so cute as we were talking and said that he was so happy that I was helping him learn a little about gardening.  He says he loves it.  He wants a corner of his family garden just for his own little crops.  He was proud as he could be as he took his plants home.  He is a keeper!

Tomatoes, etc.

I have lots of green big fat tomatoes.  So I brought in a bunch to see if they would ripen.  I sure hope so!  It's supposed to be cooler this week.  Any chance of frost??  I don't want to lose the tomatoes that are still out there.  But I didn't want them all at once.  The rest of my garden is really winding down.  Not much out there anymore.  But then it is officially OCTOBER!  Where did this year go?

The grandkids and their parents, of course, went to Bear Lake for the weekend and so things were quiet, but I really got caught up on my genealogy projects, although there is still tons to do, I felt like I made a big dent putting things on PAF and my Jaryzsow project file.  I have been able to put lots of Jaryszow families together and I am so excited about that.  I feel like this is a worthwhile project.  Oddly, I don't know anyone else that is researching here.  But with all the many Silesian researchers, eventually I will find someone, I'm sure.

General Conference was good.  I really noted that the speakers, many of them, were discouraging video game playing, etc.  I can see that will be a challenge to many.  But it does seem like a waste of many hours accomplishing very little. 

Well, getting late and I am getting tired.  So this is a quick little post.  By the way, dispite several traps, our potato chip eating friend, Mickey, is not interested in the bait.  Spence even put potato chip on the trap.  No nibbles.

2 More Days!

Poland is just around the corner.  I hope that it is going to be a successful trip.  I hear its hot there right now, and of course the only AC around will be in my rental car...

I think I will really miss the grandkids.  Am going over to take some pictures of them all before I leave on my camera to share with the relatives there in Poland. 

Well, today I was the pioneer woman shucking 55 ears of corn, blanching and freezing it.  Fixed some for dinner, but after all that, I couldn't bring myself to eat even one ear.  Spencer said it was delicious.  I am sure I will change my mind later. 

Today the AC in the truck quit working.  It was the compressor and cost 1000 to fix.  That was just nice...
Oh, well, as Spence and I say, it's still better than a car payment...I suppose. 

Well, hopefully my next entry will be from Poland.  I am sure going to try to keep up the blogging while there.  That way I will have a nice record of my "adventures".

Zucchini Everywhere!

Well, I decided to try a recipe that I got from the Home Food Storage Lady in Highland, Chirine Wadsworth. Her link is the bottom one of my sidebar blog list.  Alpine Food Storage.  The recipe was for Zucchini Relish. Sounded good and my friend, Sylvie, at work, says she uses the same recipe. So, I got out my old Kitchen-Aid grinder attachment and started grinding the veggies. In the upper right starts some of the mess I created. But it only got worse from there, couldn't take a picture of that. My dear husband always says, "Clean as you go". Well, who wants to keep cleaning and cleaning, just do it once and forget it, is my motto. And then when I was done, I put it in the bowl and refrigerated overnight. It looks good. But then I had to go out and buy a new steam canner, since I quit canning over 20 years ago, had to do with starting to work full-time, I guess. I gave my mom all my equipment and jars and so I am starting from scratch. Below is the recipe, just in case your zucchinis are also growing out of your ears.

Amazing Zucchini Relish
8-9 pints of Relish

Soak
10 C. zucchini
3 C. onions
4 red bell peppers
5 T. salt

Mix
3 c. sugar
1 T. cornstarch
1 t. turmeric
1 t. nutmeg (Sylvie's addition to the recipe)
3 C. vinegar
1 t. dry mustard
1 t. black pepper
1 t. celery seed

Grate zucchini in food processor, along with onion and bell peppers. Mix salt in with vegetables in large plastic bowl and let stand overnight. Next day, rinse thoroughly in a large strainer and drain well.
Place shredded vegetables in large heavy pan and add remaining ingredients. Mix well and boil for 30 minutes. Pack in jars, seal and process 10 minutes. 

So back to the farmer girl version of me...Actually, if I had more time, I think I would do a lot of this.  Probably more canning, than eating.  At least that was how it used to be.  Then I would wonder if the stuff in the jars had rotted and I would get salmonella or some other strange manifestation if I ate it. 

How Does My Garden Grow?

Finally it is beginning to be summer!

I went outside today for the first time in a week due to too many things going on and saw that the garden was finally coming along.  I cut my 3rd cutting of lettuce and picked a green pepper.  Then later I trimmed back the half dead lavender bush and cut some mint to dry.  I felt like the Pioneer Women in me had come out. 

But then I realized how hot it was out there and decided to write about the garden, rather than work in it.  Can't wait to write about tomatoes and black currants, ha ha!