Accomplishment

We have planted a garden that is big enough to feed three families!! We eat all that we can, take it to neighbors and then usually still have produce rotting on the ground. This year I finally followed though on my thoughts to PRESERVE or can some of our goods.

I have done some canning in the past, with my mom to show me how. I have never attempted on my own, at our house, to bottle anything. I learned from an Enrichment class how to bottle tomatoes and so began the process.

I picked a 4 gallon bucket of tomatoes one day and put them in my sink so that I would be forced to do SOMETHING with them. KC was a great sport and we stood together at the sink and peeled tomatoes two different nights after the kids were in bed. As we stood there one night, he said, " It feels like we're in an episode of Frontier House!"

Now, while we don't really expect a filming crew to show up tomorrow and document our back to basic living, I did have to agree with him. Though people have been doing this for decades, and we certainly aren't the only people to be doing this now, we felt rather pioneer-ish. It was pioneering for US.

I feel a good sense of accomplishment as I put those bottles on my storage shelves and know that we did it! Bits of my garden, in bottles, on my shelves for use all winter long. Also, REAL admiration for those before us, who preserved ALL of their food for the winter!