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Too much, too little this growing season

3 min read

Did anyone else have a hard time growing a garden this year?

First, it was too soggy to get seeds to grow before they rotted in the ground. Then, it stopped raining, perhaps forever, and everything was left dried up and burned to a crisp. I have plants out there that, if touched, would disintegrate back into the dust from whence they came.

We managed to grow zucchini with no problem. But, really, who has a problem growing zucchini? I plant dozens of the vines. (Beth Dolinar may freak out when she reads that, but, I promise, there’s a good reason.) I had a large bag of the seed given to me, they grow easily, and pigs and chickens love them. Basically, I use them to grow bacon and eggs!

Much of the rest didn’t perform well. We got two pickings of green beans; no broccoli, kale or carrots, and the corn was quite stunted. We ate corn three times, and despite the ears being quite short, it was tasty. But, the raccoons got to it before we were done.

Our tomatoes continue to make a valiant effort. I pick a dozen or a dozen-and-a-half at a time and can what we don’t eat. Instead of one or two large-scale canning endeavors, I can two or three quarts at a time. I don’t mind being out of there in only an hour, but the set-up and cleanup remain the same regardless of the amount canned.

I did stop by our local orchard, Krenzelak’s, to acquire some peaches this weekend. Then, I spent hours on Sunday preserving them for this winter’s consumption. I peeled, pitted and packed peaches into prepared pots. (Actually, they were jars, but I was fully committed to the alliteration.)

I made simple syrup and ladled it over the peaches in the jars. Then I wiped the jars, added the heated inserts and tightened the bands over them. One full canner followed another for several hours, until, finally, I reached the end of the fruit.

The smell of peaches wafted through the entire house. Occasionally, someone would follow the scent and come say hello, but the heat in the kitchen drove them away almost as fast as they came. Usually, they left with a peach half in their hand or mouth, but they still left.

Finally, the last canner was able to be shut off, and I was able to start scrubbing things. That simple syrup is not quite so simple to scrub off once it dried. It sticks to everything. Aside from that, I felt quite accomplished at the sight of all of the jars neatly lined up on the counter: more than four dozen quarts of bright-orange orbs just waiting for their chance to be popped open and added to our dinner table.

Hopefully, I will be able to add some more tomatoes, perhaps some potatoes, as well, to the shelves, but if we are finished for the year, I will at least be grateful for the peaches this winter.

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