Back in April I wrote about tilling the garden - predicting that soon it would be overflowing with plants and weeds. Here we are in July our garden is full and lush!
We eat veggies with our dinner fresh picked - and some we freeze for another day. Summer greens and lettuces, fresh scallions, radishes and cucumbers are refreshing and light in the warmth of summer - a welcome treat. Peas and beans are in abundance - the tender young peas lightly steamed with a dollop of butter and a dash of salt...(yum)!
I am always moved by the unique beauty of each plant, and the packaging nature has provided. I smile every time I unzip the sturdy jacket on the peas to reveal a row of perfectly formed little green circles.
I am still actively pursuing my weeding - row by row, day by day (every other day?). Happily, my goal is not to have a "perfectly" weeded garden (although they are lovely to look at in magazines). No - I just want to be able to see the rows, to see the individual veggie plants, and if there are a few weeds mixed in - well let them be. I call this the "Middle Path" of gardening!
The chickens are in full egg-laying-swing! We gather about 4 eggs a day and keep them on the counter until the basket overflows.
I've come to realize that eggs do not have to be refrigerated unless washed - in which case the protective coating is removed. I find the eggs are mostly clean when gathered - for the few that are not, they are washed and go in the fridge.
I am always moved and little surprised every time I uncover a smooth, warm egg left in the hay.
"For me?!" I say to myself.
"Thank you mama hen!" I say to her.
I've come to realize that eggs do not have to be refrigerated unless washed - in which case the protective coating is removed. I find the eggs are mostly clean when gathered - for the few that are not, they are washed and go in the fridge.
I am always moved and little surprised every time I uncover a smooth, warm egg left in the hay.
"For me?!" I say to myself.
"Thank you mama hen!" I say to her.
Mama Ethel is providing us with more milk as the babes are not nursing as frequently. I freeze the milk immediately in mason jars and take them out as needed. We are still drinking the milk raw and unpasteurized.
"After dinner with the goats" (as it has come to be known) is always an amusing time of day. Most often when the goats are "let out" whoever is in the house at the time gathers on the lawn for the fun. Who can resist the attraction of romping baby goats?
"After dinner with the goats" (as it has come to be known) is always an amusing time of day. Most often when the goats are "let out" whoever is in the house at the time gathers on the lawn for the fun. Who can resist the attraction of romping baby goats?
Abundance comes in many forms.
An evening walk in late July provides all the beauty a soul can hold.
An evening walk in late July provides all the beauty a soul can hold.
Sometimes the beauty of it all takes me aback, and my heart breaks a little - but then that is a gift too isn't it?
~ j
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