I took the kids strawberry picking last Saturday. We picked 11 pounds! On Sunday I took them to a local strawberry festival. (Am I good mom or what??!!) We’ve frozen about half of the berries. We were going to make jam, but I’ve found out the process is going to take longer than I originally thought, so I will now freeze the remaining berries and make jam in a couple of weeks. The thought of a fresh strawberry pie, though, is extremely appealing, so we may just have to reserve enough for that!
I love summer. Summer is ALIVE. I am alive in the summer. Although we don’t have any vegetables planted in the garden this year (bummer!) we’ll still have some berries. A few strawberries are in a small patch, and the raspberry bushes continue to yield fruit on their own, each year. I admit, though, that I will miss homegrown tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, green beans, zucchini, eggplant, and even cantaloupe– like we had last year. Somehow we just couldn’t get it together to prepare the soil, weed, and plant on time. It was a very cold spring. In addition, we had company for two weeks, and the kids had some sort of virus for two weeks. That took up the entire month of May. By the time June hit, I was too worn out and lacking motivation. The kids enjoy planting and harvesting. I’m disappointed we don’t have it this year. Financially, too, it would have been helpful. I was planning to learn how to can so we could can some tomatoes and other things.
Well, this post obviously has nothing to do with spiritual matters! Except that in summer, I feel like Aslan has come and spring and summer have returned to the world and all will be well, because the wicked spell of the winter witch has been thwarted once again! (The Chronicles of Narnia are an excellent read, incase you’re looking for something to read during the summer. I read them for the first time a couple of years ago.)
It is time to go, so I reluctantly sign off. My son has a baseball game. It’s our turn to bring the after-game treats, and he needs to eat dinner before he goes.
We finished (I) finished planting our seeds July 1st! Carrots and lettuce both prefer cool temps to germinate, so this weather has been perfect for them! I have 22 tomato plants, though they are being ruthlessly pruned according to the square foot garden method. Still I should have enough to share a few with you 🙂
BTW, even now you could plant some lettuce and enjoy watching that grow 🙂