The Bounteous Harvest

Fall is Here….

With the beautiful turning of the leaves also comes the Harvest. == Shown is our bounteous harvest... this was the sum total with a couple small squirrel chewed pumpkins, a few extra tomatoes and a few more tiny summer squash. We were kind this year and shared our garden with any varmint that wanted to taste of its good abundance. We spotted squirrels, rabbits, mice and quail enjoying the feast. And... I'm not so sure that our lizards were not in on the taking!

== Harvest is a special time of the year. As a young girl even though it meant a lot of work picking potatoes and bringing in the harvest, it also meant those hours spent cutting potatoes, weeding beets and potatoes, helping Dad with the irrigating would finally bring those crops to harvest. Bringing in the crops ended the harvest year. It was hard to believe that those seeds were now a crop in full bloom. Amongst the beautiful turning of leaves, we would be able to get this life giving harvest of crops. === Early on we children helped in the crops. My sister and I would fill 50 pound basket of potatoes and dump them into 100 pound sacks, that had to be shaked down, so they would stand up in the field ready for the haulers to come by and pick them up. Later we worked on a potato harvester, and I remember clearly the hard work and the cold weather. But, we were glad of the work as we were able to buy all our clothes for the school year. ==

Part of harvest was the process of canning food for the winter. Hours were spent helping Mom can peaches, pears, string beans, tomatoes and many more life sustaining food. Part of my time this year has been spent renewing that canning process, as I have not canned anything since 2002 and really canned since Portland which was from 1972-1989. ================================================================================ Salsa Cooling on the Counter

================================================================================== List of the bounteous harvest Water Bath Canned this 2011 year: ================================================================================== 24 Quarts Peaches --------------------- 14 Quarts Pears ------------------------ 3 Pints Applesauce ---------------------- 3 Quarts Salsa ----------------------- 18 Pints Salsa --------------------- ================================================================================= Frozen Fruits & Vegetables ================================================================================= 10 Bottles Strawberry Jam -------------------------- 7 Bottles Raspberry Jam ------ 10 Bottles Peach Jam ------------------------------- 6 Bottles Peach Butter ------- 6 Bottles Pear Butter ----------------------------- 10 Bottles Salsa----- - - ================================================================================== My Canned Harvest...!

======================================== I am so grateful for the bounteous harvest of this land and for the opportunity to partake of it's bounties.