Still going...

I don't know what I would do if we had a bigger garden.  This one is keeping me hoppin'!  It has been really nice to have so many fresh veggies, though. 

I think I've frozen around 20 quarts of green beans and 8-10 quarts of purple-hull peas. 

The okra is finally starting to make more than one pod at a time, so we might have enough to make one batch of fried okra--I only planted one okra plant, and that was an experiment.  I'm not sure if our family likes okra enough for me to plant more next year....

(This one got a little too big!)

I picked two more baskets full of veggies this morning that I need to get busy processing, so it's good-bye for today!

A Quick Peek...

Things have been hoppin' around here lately. 

We've had kids going to camp, torrential downpours of rain, construction projects, veggies ripening, and two new additions to the family!  There has been NO time for blogging!!!

In regard to the two new additions to the family....

Meet Amelia and Charlotte!

This is Amelia here in the front.

Charlotte on the left, Amelia on the right.

We picked up these cuties a few weeks ago.  Their job is to keep the mice out of the house.  They are technically "barn cats" according to Farmer B, but we are missing the "barn" for the present time.  (It's on the "to do" list!)

Blackberries have gone for the year, I believe.  We have a few stragglers here and there which I have been eating for a snack on my morning walk.  It's fun to have refreshments available along the way, you know!

I froze most of the berries that we picked, but I did take one day's pickings and make some blackberry jam.  That "mess" of berries produced about 11 half-pint jars of jam.  ;~) 

(Can't wait to dig into one of these!)

Of course, I have made a couple of blackberry cobblers.  These are some individual-sized cobblers that Farmer B REALLY liked!

We have had a lot of rain over the past three weeks or so, which means that I have had a break from watering the garden every night.  I'm getting spoiled!  I have, however, been busy picking green beans and purple hull peas, and we've even had a few tomatoes begin to ripen. 

The cucumber plants have been limping along for the past month thanks to an infestation of cucumber beetles.  I was able to save a few plants, but the cucumber production has been hindered considerably.  I have only been able to put up a few quarts of pickles so far. 

The kids and I picked this pile of peas yesterday.  Last night, M2 shelled them all as she watched Andy Griffith; and then today, I washed them all and packed them into the freezer (green beans, too).  Up until this point, we have been eating all of the peas that we've picked--it was nice to have a few to put away for later.  :~)  Plus...I picked a few more today and was able to give them to a friend.  Yay!!!

The pumpkins are beginning to turn orange, the corn is still questionable, and the watermelons are ALMOST ripe.  I'll try to get a few pictures in the next few days if time allows. 

Happy Summer!!!