My chickens are doing great. I'm covered up with an overabundance of fresh eggs & every few weeks I have to give all my local friends and family a shout out to see if anyone needs some. Last week, I have over 15 dozen eggs sitting in my fridge. And that was after I'd already used 2 dozen eggs for a recipe. Luckily, after my shout out I managed to sell or trade 11 dozen in two days.
I didn't do a garden this year, but I did plant a lot of veggies in pots on my front deck. I've harvested a few handfuls of green beans and my banana pepper plants are covered up. I did a bell pepper plant for the first time and it had two baby peppers on it. I noticed the other day that one of them is missing. :( I don't know if it was a bird, squirrel, or it just shriveled up and fell off. I figure I'll be lucky if the other one survives. My tomato plants grew big and tall, but produced nothing. *Sniff, Sniff* However, my mint grew like crazy & smells so good. :)
On the upside, I'm getting pretty darn good at canning this year. I started doing a little last summer, just some hot water bath items, but over the winter I broke down and bought myself an All American Pressure Canner. I finally used it for the first time a few weeks ago for green beans and they turned out beautiful! I love it! I'm addicted now.
Last year I did pickled beets and sauerkraut in the summer, then made applesauce and apple butter in the fall. However, this summer I've canned green beans, strawberry jam, blueberry jam, whole blackberries, dill and bread & butter pickles, and whole kernel corn. Here are a few pictures of my yummy bounty. :)
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| Whole Blackberries in Simple Syrup |
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| Strawberry Jam |
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| Green Beans |
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| Bread & Butter and Dill Pickles |
