A Good Harvest

There is something very wonderful about harvest time. It just might be my favorite time of year. (But then again Spring gives it some pretty strong competition and there are other fun and wonderful things to do other times of year as well so I just don't know....) It is also a wearying time of year as food doesn't just sit around in perfect condition waiting for you to have time to harvest or process. The canning sometimes takes longer than you think and you are up late waiting for the prescribed time to be done so that you can turn the burner off and take things out. But it is so fun to find the treasures in the garden and hive and a blessing to get meat from the pasture or woods as well. Whether we get our food from the grocery store or the garden it is a gift from God but I think it is often easier to remember that it is God who gives us all things richly to enjoy when we are out in nature harvesting things He has caused to grow. 

   After a two year break I had bees again this year. I had taken a break for a few reasons: 1. I still had enough honey from previous years. 2. My life got a lot busier when I had to go to work following Ken leaving and this was something I could skip. 3. In 2020 when I last kept bees I got stung near the end of the season and reacted to it much more strongly than I ever had before. I was stung on the ear (through the netting that had gotten to close to my ear) and both ears immediately started throbbing, my neck (but not my throat) and arms swelled up and I broke out into hives. It was a little scary. Since then I have taken a homeopathic treatment that is supposed to have cured my honey bee allergy but it hasn't been tested to I don't know if it worked or not. I also have a lot less stress in my life then I did that Fall (as my marriage was falling apart at the time) and I think that my body was quite possibly simply overloaded when the sting happened. Anyway I decided to try again but I have been careful and I didn't work with them unless I had somebody around that could drive me to the emergency room if necessary. 

The bees did well and I had fun watching the miracle that a bee hive is and sharing it with others (as I had nephews and nieces come to learn about it with me). I did learn a lesson this year about not putting off harvesting honey. I had extracted some honey in August (as they had pretty much filled the boxes and I needed more space) and then some in September and I got a nice amount from those times but I knew there was a lot more still in the hives. I needed to extract before it got to cold but it seemed like things were going fine that way. We didn't get a killing harvest at our place until this week. There were rainy, chilly days but for the most part it still seemed pretty nice. And I was hoping for a whole day to work on it and Saturday is the only day for me that is a possibility and I had been busy with weddings, working, traveling and company and it didn't happen. I finally got out to finish getting the honey out a week ago and discovered that the bees and all the honey (except for about a dozen bees and 20 pounds of honey in one hive) had completely disappeared. I honestly don't know what happened but I think in the future I had better not let it go so late. I had figured there was about 150 pounds of honey out there so it was a disappointment but in my learning to trust God in all things I was able to have complete peace about it. He knows what we need. He knows everything in the future all the could-have-beens and He knows what is best - Always. And I had perfectly cleaned out hives to put away and NO stings this year! 

Flowers are an important part of my gardening (and my life). I don't actually harvest these to store away for winter except in pictures. :-) Someone said once that being able to have flowers in every room of their house was a sign of wealth. I totally agree. I feel like I have "arrived" when I can enjoy flowers all over my home. I love being able to get them out of the garden to decorate. I am also super blessed because with my business I end up with extra flowers and with working part time at the flower shop I also can bring old (no longer sellable) flowers home and decorate my home with them. It gives me joy and I feel incredibly blessed. By the way I am curious about that- I have come to realize that not all people have the obsession with flowers that I have, some people will even say "No Thank You" when you offer them a bouquet - are you the type the loves them and find they give you joy or are they something that don't really stir any emotion in you?

I love canning tomatoes - they are so quick and easy. I canned quite a bit from my garden and then a neighbor also shared these lovely ones with me. 

Carrots that I got to dig from a friends garden. I love getting to dig carrots and potatoes and things like that! It feels like looking for treasure.

I have enjoyed harvesting wild mushrooms from our yard this year - such as this gemmed puffball.

One evening every burner was busy as I canned applesauce, cooked down goat bones, made tomato jam and salsa and blanched broccoli. I ended up canning quite a bit of broth and some soup too. I helped my parents with butchering a little and they blessed me with some meat. This year is a little sad as my parents got rid of all their goats. They have had goats since before I was born so this is a real change for them.

Thanks to my parents prolific apple trees I was able to dehydrate a lot of apples. They are a yummy snack. I love how efficient my current dehydrator is. I also canned apple pie filling and applesauce.

Today I made Kimchee. I think it is going to be a yummy (and good for you) batch and I am excited about it. I am thinking maybe I should make another batch.

   The freezers are full and the pantry shelves look lovely too. I am so thankful for God's many blessings. We got our first hard freeze last night so it is time to move on to the next season. I am looking forward to some sewing/crafting.

  Did you harvest anything at your house? What is a favorite thing for you to harvest?