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Oh, sweet and overwhelming September.
You my dear are the month of "more".
More of everything.
More messes more projects more planning more doing.
More moving more working more dreaming more running.
September.
Bringing more tomatoes than we dreamed of when we planted those 24 heirlooms, cherries, and pastes in the spring.
More tomatoes than a few of our homemade cages can hold. (Two of them were laying on the ground this morning, exhausted and overwhelmed by the poundage of tomatoes hanging from the vines.)
More peppers than we can roast and freeze or can or turn into homemade sriracha before the sun dips behind the hills tonight.
More full beautiful jars in the basement than we have shelves for – slowly filling the root cellar from floor to ceiling. Our winter food. Or a bit of it anyway.
More zucchini than we could ever eat, so we fill the freezer, one bag at a time. For ratatouille. Soups. Stews. Sautes. For saving just a bit of summer into the deep cold winter.
More potatoes than we thought our overgrown and weedy patch would ever provide. Enough to be a winter treat if we dig them and tuck them away now, in September.
And there are more eggs in the hen house than we know what to do with. Eggs to give away and eat at every meal. Eggs, eggs, everywhere.
Even some beneath a broody little hen.
And yes, more chickens than we ever intended. Because that broody little hen, Lupine's favorite (Sweetie Pie), hatched out a clutch of six wee chicks.
And a few more hot summer days, that beg us to drop our harvest baskets and slip down to the creek for one more swim.
And more intention.
Homeschooling. Knitting. Sewing. Foraging. Preserving. Fermenting. Farming. Planting.
With the changing season that September brings, there is more looking ahead. Dreaming. Planning. Sketching. Growing.
Tomorrow our farm will also grow. Yes, more animals! (More on that later in the week.)
But today? Today we'll face the tomatoes. And can what we're able.
Oh, September.
If only you also came with a few more hours in each of your bursting days.
Your pictures made me smile. I love the handwritten labels on the jam jars – so sweet. You are fortunate to have such abundance in your life, and I know you count your blessings. I just wish I lived closer so I could buy some of your excess!
This must all make you know for sure that you and your family were meant to get this farm! The soil was just waiting for you to plant wonderful heirloom seeds and plants. And I’m sure the soul of your farm is so very happy to have all of you there living the way we are all meant to live. It is obvious with the abundance it has rewarded you with, that you are taking very good care of the farm.
You are a prolific canner! I’m quite impressed.
Made me think of a post I saw yesterday, with a very tongue-in-cheek reference to “more”. http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/09/10/220734400/a-new-kind-of-more
While the absurdity made me laugh, I have to say that I prefer your tastier version!
You are just lovely. Thank you for bringing me a smile when I’m feeling weary.
Just lovely!
Glad I found your blog – just subscribed!
I too have an abundance of peppers. What do you use the siriacha for? I want to try it. Thanks for another awesome post.
WOW!! All those jars make me want to learn. I am so turned off by everything growing in our garden, blame the pregnancy, my stomach just turns every time I bring in the harvest as I ponder what to do with it, often it is given away. Nice work mama, next year I will try canning and put more food by for my own family. Thanks for the inspiration!
On a different note…..I was wondering if you might share some of the books your son Sage liked to read on his own when he started reading independently. I have read a bit about his journey on your blog and my son has followed a similar path. Trying to find him books at his level that aren’t just the “easy readers” (something about those turns him off) but offer an interesting story worth reading. Any suggestions?
Hi Rachel, we have our first batch of your Blueberry Buttermilk icecream in the freezer… won’t be ready until tomorrow though – bedtime here so maybe icecream for breakfast :)? What kind of bags do you use for the freezer? We are only just sewing seeds now but I’m getting ready for harvest time and am searching for an alternative to plastic freezer bags. Would love tips from anyone else too…. thank you x
All of that abundance looks scrumptious. I feel blessed just looking at it.
Honestly Xan, I wish I had a good answer. We buy zip-type freezer bags and wash and reuse them as much as we can. Butter gets wrapped in parchment paper and stacked in the freezer, and other things (broth, milk, ricotta) go in canning jars. Id love to be plastic free but I would need to run an extra freezer to accommodate more jars, which doesnt seem green either. Our ice cream goes in an old-fashioned glass refrigerator dish. I pre-chill it in the freezer. Good luck!
Because so many children learn to ready very young at school, early reader books were waaaay too young/boring for Sage. I get it. I asked him and both of us have a hard time remembering. But he suggested Sardine (a graphic novel), he said that Tin Tin was good for an older child (also graphic novels) and he enjoyed the King-Smith books (Babe and all the rest! Such great books!). Then he got deep into the Hardy Boys when he was a bit older. He also strongly recommended the Church Mice books by Oakley. I asked our librarian and she had some great suggestions for books to keep him engaged without losing him along the way.
Okay, our family loves the monkey! We are busy drying, canning, freezing as well…what blessings. But, seriously, what a cute monkey! 🙂
You’ve been a busy bee, what an impressive pantry!
Thank you, thank you, rhank you Sage, and Rachel! Off to put some holds at the library, looking forwar to them.
Thanks Rachel 🙂 We wrap our butter in parchment paper too although in Australia it’s called baking paper. I then also stack them all into a snap-lock (zip-lock) for the freezer to prevent ice crystals. I’ve also dreamed of using just glass jars but, same as you, there’s just not the freezer space. I might look out for a pyrex or glass dish for the icecream, that’s a great idea! By the way, tomorrow will see the last of our batch of Blueberry Buttermilk icecream… gone in under 36 hrs! I’d say it’s a hit here too 🙂 Will let you know if I discover something better than the snap/zip bags. Have a lovely weekend x
Rachael, I just discovered your site thru a link from Food In Jars site. I love your site and have joined your email list. I am thrilled to see you are using Tattler lids. I am just starting to switch mine over. I have not had a single jar to “not seal”. How is your experience with them?
Welcome, Pat! I have had mixed results with tattlers. I have the poorest luck with liquid/tomato products. I suspect my fill level is to blame. (Operator error.) Otherwise I love them!