Fruitful summer

The world is a complicated place. Or so I seem to make it. I guess, in truth, all I really have to do is work some, play some, exercise some, love my wife and family, eat well and rest. I can't think of much else I really have to do.

Lately -- I say "lately" but I guess it has been a four year progression -- I have been trying to simplify life down to those few things. That is not to say that I am less busy. In fact, it's quite a load. But I'm pretty happy.

The summer has been hectic. The garden at my parent's house didn't turn out as well as we'd hoped but we think we found our problem and will correct it next year. We are getting a ton of tomatoes and we did get a very happy volunteer squash plant out of the compost bins at our house. I think we got a butternut squash out of our compost last year to so we've grown to like squash. We have been spending a good portion of our summer time stocking the cupboards with fruits and veggies for the months when those foods aren't as plentiful locally.

We've been getting veggies and fruits from friends or local farmers and are canning or freezing whatever we can. So far, we've done 300 lbs. of tomatoes into sauce, puree, salsa etc. Last week, I made the first 20 jars of applesauce from a bunch of free apples we cleaned off a friend's tree. I figure 60 jars should get us through the year. We also scored a bunch of free lemons, which we are zesting and juicing. Sally froze the juice into serving sizes so she can use it when she needs it.

We've got bags of berries and jars of jams, peaches, pickles and beans. We were just discussing how we can finagle a little time to process the rest of what we have in the next few days. We certainly haven't done enough to have a very delicious local winter yet. Nonetheless, dehydrators are humming, making the free grapes we got into raisins and turning the apples into something the kids think is candy. I still need to find a few days to build the pantry to store it all.

The laundry room counter is getting pretty full.

We also picked up a bit of meat. When I say a bit, I mean about 600 lbs. It may be more by now. "Dinner," as the kids call her, is strolling around about 20 acres in Penryn eating grass and hanging out with other cows doing ... I don't know what cows do. She just seems to be doing it. We split her with two other families and she will make the transition from cow to beef in about ten months. My friend who she is living with (the same guy who gave us all the free fruit) want to try our hand at eggs and in the next year. We will see how it goes.

Speaking of chickens, I got to help Brad and Alana Fowler at Fowler Farm with a day of chicken processing. Processing means killing if you couldn't figure it out. We "processed" about 67 chickens and I was able to try my hand at every step along the way. I'll write more about it another time but I'll just say it was pretty cool. I don't think I'd ever killed anything other than a fish or bugs before and I certainly hadn't done it with my hands. It wasn't ... it wasn't really anything. It wasn't sad or gross or good or bad. It was really like any job -- washing the dishes or painting the house. I am going to go back and help next week.

Speaking of Fowler Farm, we got an email from Alana about holiday turkeys. They are taking orders. All their birds are pastured and I am sure they will be great. We ordered two. If you want, contact them at fowlerfamilyfarm@yahoo.com. Brad works a full-time job outside the house and runs the farm full-time on the side. Alana stays home with their three kids (she has twins on the way). They are a little younger than me, early thirties I think, but are very concerned about the way food is produced and what the rest of us are eating. These are exactly the types of people that we need to support so they can continue to grow and feed us good food. Alright. I'm climbing down off my soapbox, but order some chickens and turkeys, willya'.

So, my simple life ain't always so simple. I am looking forward to the day my pantry is stuffed with jars and air-sealed packs. The freezer will be topped off with beef and pork and chickens and fruits and veggies. I imagine there will be a sense of accomplishment as we head into winter. Sally and I will spend our days on the Internet searching for recipes to try with all the local booty we'd spent summer preparing. What will I do with my free time?

PS - Back on my soapbox for a moment. I added some links on the right to some of our favorite farms. Remember, supporting them is the only way they and others like them can grow and continue feeding us good food. Yes, I know it might be slightly more expensive, but I don't need to go into quality issues. Besides, you all found an extra $100 a month in the budget to pick up an iPhone when they came out.