We have had a pretty successful garden this summer. The squash came in strong and we ate squash every night for 6 weeks! We found that grilling it was the easiest and most delicious way to cook it plus it prevented us heating up the house with the oven or stove. We began harvesting our “sun gold” tomatoes a few weeks ago and then last week our beef tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes were ready. K will pop a sun gold in her mouth, shake her head slowly and say “Ooooh Mama. This is like eating candy.” They are more orange than red and the flavor is juicy and sweet with a hint of tart. Our cucumbers are done for the season; I think the heat is too much. We were able to enjoy a few weeks of cucumber and tomato salad with feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. We are still waiting for the peppers and the winter squash should be ready for harvest soon. We have a few blackberries and blueberries but not enough to store for winter. I have been picking blueberries at a local farm every week and freezing for winter. We only had 1 harvest of green beans and they were excellent!

These pictures were taken in June, so that is why most of the tomatoes are green.

Sun gold tomato

Dill

Red leaf basil and rosemary

I am so thankful a friend introduced me to Kombucha. I had heard about it but it seemed weird and time consuming. Then a friend gave me a SCOBY so I was forced to learn more! I have successfully brewed 4 batches and I experiment with a new flavor each week. Here is a little background on Kombucha.

Kombucha is a raw, fermented, probiotic, and naturally carbonated tea. A SCOBY is Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. Symbiotic means that the bacteria and yeast strains live together in a complex, mutually supportive community, supporting and depending on each other. Analysis of the contents of kombucha confirms that it is rich in amino-acids, probiotics, antioxidants, glucuronic acid, trace minerals, B vitamins and more… It is a living, enzyme-rich drink.

I brew/ferment my kombucha for 7 days. I then bottle it and add a combination of fruit/herbs and let it ferment again for 7 days. This second fermentation allows it to carbonate. My favorite so far is mango kombucha and lemon/ginger kombucha. I am really enjoying learning about kombucha and I love sharing with others. Please let me know if you are interested in trying it; I always have an extra SCOBY so I can share with others!

This is my mother SCOBY. I “retired” it today (I fed it to the chickens) and I started with a new, baby SCOBY.

This is what a SCOBY looks like

This week I bottled another lemon/ginger and two ginger/peach.

I used the kids stickers to label the flavor!!

The ceramic container with the spigot is where the kombucha ferments with the SCOBY. It needs to be room temperature and away from direct sunlight.

Well, we have had a rough couple of weeks. All 3 kids had a stomach virus two weeks ago, then Adam and I caught some sort of upper respiratory virus that won’t give up. K started feeling puny earlier in the week with lots of drainage and a nasty cough. Saturday evening she had a low fever but by Sunday morning it had spiked pretty high. She was crying because it hurt throat hurt when she swallowed so I was pretty sure she had strep throat. We took her to the minute clinic first thing Sunday morning and she also had an ear infection. K was so sad because she and G were scheduled to go on a camping trip with Adam’s parents Sunday through Tuesday. So we sent G camping with Adam’s parents which turned out to be such a blessing. Yesterday and today, we have been able to focus on pampering K and helping her feel better.

Oh yeah, back to crepes. So Adam is off today (Memorial Day) so we had a leisurely morning (in between checking K’s temperature and giving her medicine and rubbing essential oils on her). We decided to make crepes and use the fresh yogurt and jam inside the crepes. The “perfect pancakes” was a recipe inside Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Every Day cookbook. He is British so his version of pancakes is actually what we consider crepes. We use his cookbooks the most in our kitchen and his recipes are always so yummy! Oh my goodness, they were so delicious!! Enjoy the picture.

I have been sick all week so my mom helped with the older 2 kids and I spent the day with MJ. I didn’t feel great but I was inspired to accomplish some things I had been wanting to try.  So,  I made my first batch of fridge jam and my first attempt at yogurt. I had both them together today and it was delicious! I used local strawberries and raw milk-Yum!

Also, my dad came over and finished painting our hallway (such a blessing), so I made us homemade pizza for lunch. Enjoy the pictures!

sidenote: in the yogurt pics you can see my kombucha in the background. I am learning so much!

Last Friday my parents had a surprise for K and G; they took them horseback riding! I honestly didn’t expect them to ride alone but they surprised me with their bravery!! They had such a blast and it was so fun to hear the explanation of their day when I got home from work. Here are some photos.

This was the fake “cow” they rode behind a four-wheeler. They loved it!

K was so impressed that the horse stopped when the reins were pulled. She said “the horse is so smart to know when to stop!”

I wanted to share a sweet and funny conversation I had with the kids in the car today. We listen to a CD in the car called Rain for Roots, rainforroots.com. One of the songs’ lyrics are “God cares for you.”  So here is the conversation between G and K:

G: K, why does God care for you?

K: Because he loves us.

G: Why can’t we see Him?

K: Because He is in our hearts and we can’t see inside our body. He is in everyone’s hearts.

this is where I paused the CD and began to explain that Jesus is not in everyone’s hearts. I told the kids we have to invite Jesus into our hearts.

G: Mama, why would you want to bite Jesus? He is nice.

then more explaining about INVITE not bite and what that means.

K: So some people don’t want Jesus in their hearts? Mama, isn’t that sad?

I love how my beautiful children challenge my faith with their innocence. They teach me how I should love Jesus and others and how my heart should break over lost souls.

Adam made a delicious Mother’s Day dinner for me and my mother-in-law. The best part is that all of the main ingredients came from the farm! We had a pork shoulder roast, “cube of butter” squash and new potatoes with chives and rosemary. It was so delicious. I was grinding grain when Adam arrived home from work today so we decided to make fresh pizza crust. Tonight we all cooked together for dinner. We made pizza with tomato sauce from last year’s harvest, fresh ground sausage, garlic chives (feta cheese, green peppers, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese). Enjoy the pictures!

Hey guys. Here are a few pictures of the garden and some of our first harvest. We had our most successful year with potatoes. This was our last attempt and I am so thankful we had a good harvest. Also, we cooked our first 2 squash as a side with local beef and our homemade tomato sauce from last year’s tomato harvest. Enjoy the pictures!

Our sweet little girl is now 7 months. She loves to play sitting on the floor, especially in the kids’ room. She likes to growl and she smiles a lot. She is not a fan of playing on her tummy, so I don’t think she will be crawling anytime soon. Enjoy the pictures!

MJ has her picture taken every month so Adam took portraits of the older two kids this month. Enjoy!