I spent the day defrosting my chest freezer. This means that I had to stuff everything in it into my side-by-side in the interim. The 3rd time I opened the side by side and was attacked by chuck roasts, bags of hamburger and even a pack of short ribs that landed on my big toe, I thought it was funny enough to snap a picture of! In the future, I will remember to defrost the freezer before I go pick up a share of beef, lamb etc - even if it doesn't need it! Kind of like when I demand the kids go to the bathroom before we leave the house...even if they don't think they need to! I had to stuff an entire share of beef along with other meats and all my garden produce into that side-by-side, so I guess I can say "it can be done"...although to prevent injury, I wouldn't recommend it!
Today's harvest: 4 lbs Eggplant, 14 oz beans, 2 lbs cherry tomatoes, 13 oz bell peppers, 6.1 lbs Heirloom tomatoes, 2 lbs Edamame, and 4.6 oz raspberries. I am amazed at how much more the raspberry bushes produce compared to the blackberries! Next year we should actually have enough to do something with besides snack on. I have been letting the suckers grow into new plants since the kids aren't big on veggies I think we could use more as Finn is happy to eat a bowlful of berries every night with dinner! I harvested all the remaining edamame and pulled the plants, so I really can't wait for the next crop! Into the empty bed went broccoli starts, some lettuce, and chives that I bought at the nursery, since they weren't pathetic looking like the chives I started from seed!
In the non-edible category I got my front yard shaped up finally. I pulled weeds, pruned a bit, finally took down the dead hanging baskets that the birds destroyed and even pulled all the weeds growing in the cracks of the driveway and sidewalk. I hope it inspires my neighbors to do the same! I finally stopped when I got an odd look from a driver passing by and realized that I and my stool had moved out into the street and was pulling weeds growing in the street! What's up with those damn birds anyways? It seems us gardeners love the birds and will do anything for them, including leaving up dead hanging baskets with nests & eggs inside. Nothing says "A Gardener Lives Here" like a bunch of dead plants hanging on the front porch, lol!
And finally, the Swallowtail Daycare pic of the day:
The pupa is still intact, no butterfly yet, but these guys of different ages were having a busy day filled with the parsley buffet!
Good gosh, girl, you put in one busy day! Couldn't you fit anything else in?
ReplyDeleteYou got me to thinking . . . what did I accomplish today? Well, I baked a pie, processed and froze a bunch of shell peas, made a batch of blueberry jam, made a big jug of iced tea, filled three huge garbage bags of cleanings from the garden for my daughter to take home to her poultry, wrapped a huge package to send off, went to the post office, whole foods co-op, library, recycling and posted an entry on my quilting blog.
Guess I did get something done. Why don't we ever give ourselves enough credit? But ya know what? My freezers need to be defrosted. Dang.
Mama Pea, in reality when I come in the house in the evening, I still feel like I haven't made a dent in the chores around here! The kids thrown in the mix sap my energy completely. When I blog and see what I did listed, it makes me feel like I really did accomplish something, lol! Sometimes if it wasn't for my responsibility "to the blog" I think I would never get anything done :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! I can totally empathize with the frozen meat on the toe scenario. Usually it is a big chuck roast (ouch) or a pound of ground beef that slips between your fingers.
ReplyDeletewow I get tired just reading about what you do! Our freezer was attacking as well so I actually bit the bullet and organized it. Now I could just stare at it all day!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that how all freezers look? My chest freezer is a jumble, and I have to take out nearly everything to find the one thing I want...which is always on the bottom. My refrigerator (side by side) freezer is a war zone. I cannot open the door without coming under attack.
ReplyDeleteI defrosted and organized my chest freezer in January just before we picked up our side of beef. Then when we moved I was more interested in just getting stuff back into it from the multitude of coolers that we had borrowed (from just about everyone we know!) that it is all disorganized again. I know I should sort through it again but I just can't face it. Besides, I haven't found my dry erase board that I use to keep inventory. I know it's somewhere in the house....
ReplyDeleteJudy
It is a requirement that something fall out of the freezer when you open the door at my house. If that doesn't happen it means we may starve at any given moment! ;)
ReplyDeleteGive yourself a pat for all the hard work put in, I don't know how you fit it all in a day by yourself all the nwhile taking care of the dogs and boys. Can you come whip my heinie into shape please?
I wish I had a neighbor like you! :) None of ours really do much gardening.
ReplyDeleteohhh i so love the swallowtail larva... i've spotted several of them in my fennel, but so far no where else... have a couple of pics on my site as well... they are soooo beautiful :D
ReplyDelete