Harvest Bounty

Summer in Rexburg means HARVEST time. This just might be my favorite thing about living in Rexburg -- the ability to garden. Now I know you can scratch out a garden anywhere, and I've seen my mom labor over it in Arizona. It is possible...but just not the same. And I know that compared to the Midwest we are a hard climate to garden in...but with my limited experience this is heaven.

 

Let me share with you a little of our bounty:

 

My raspberry bushes are my pride and joy. I could never have enough raspberry jam!!!

 

This year's huckleberry crop was phenomenal!! We found bushes that were just loaded with these little berries. We actually had more than we could use and we froze some for later. Yay! We like to use them for jam, coffee cake, ice cream topping, and of course Huckleberry Milkshakes.

Eric rigged up this little picking contraption...a yogurt cup with a whole in the lid. This helps prevent the berries from spilling when (not if) you drop your picking cup. Sadie and I improved upon his design by sticking it in your pants for a "hands-free" picking experience.

Huckleberry Crumb Cake with ice cream and Huckleberry Sauce on top. Yummalicious!

 

Pulling a mega zucchini and some huge carrots out of the garden. 

Green and Purple Beans

Look at the size of these carrots! Our onions were also huge.

 

It wasn't all Summer Magic.

We had a very early hard frost in late September. The plants all died.

One day they were bright green and beautiful...the next day they were decimated.

We were able to salvage a lot of food and my onions and carrots kept on growing,

but it put an early end to our harvest. Sad. The pictures don't really capture it.

But it was heartbreaking. Especially since the temperatures went right back up into the 70's and we could have had another 3 weeks of growing season.

 

 

 

Gardening is hard work.

But it is worth it. Not just for the delicious and healthy foods you get to eat.

I love the experience it gives you  --

a glimpse of what it is like to "live off the land" and to cultivate a piece of earth.

It is good for the kids to experience the "law of the harvest -- you reap what you sow."

Yes, I cursed the hours of weeding, but it was good for us.

And to see these big plants grow from tiny seeds is really quite amazing.

I can't describe how it warms my heart to eat something that I grew with my own two hands.