The Sun Comes Up, the Sun Goes Down, Work Away, Work Away...

The sun comes up, the sun goes down, work away, work away...
Have you heard that song? It's on the YellaWood commercials. I tell everyone that should be my husband's theme song. Roger, who is a carpenter by trade, works so hard all day long and then comes home and works till dark here at home or helping neighbors when they need something. That's him in the photo above tilling the garden. He's pretty awesome! ♥

This past February we decided to have a garden again... last year just didn't seem right without one! So he got his old 1950s tractor to working and plowed a garden spot. Less than a week later it snowed and we had that damaging ice storm!

After all the ice and snow was gone, after some bouts with the flu and bacterial pneumonia, and after the ground finally dried up somewhat, the garden was planted and it started to look promising.

The rains came and it grew...

This year we let the cucumbers grow up instead of out which makes picking them so much easier!

We have been blessed with a rainy summer and our garden is still growing like crazy! I posted a few photos of the garden in its early stages here. At times, it was so wet and rainy that we couldn't get in the garden to till or weed, but lately we have been harvesting so many things!

So far we've had onions, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, peas, cucumbers, squash, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers,

 

blueberries (forgot to take a photo once they were ripe)

and ONE blackberry (the rest are ripening now). Roger brought some small plants from his mom's this spring and they have really grown! My Mom had some at her home, too, and called them "tame blackberries" because they were thorn-less. I'm not sure if that's what others know them as, but that's what I always heard them called.

The tomato plants are as tall as I am and should have ripe tomatoes in a couple more weeks! That's roma tomato plants on the left, green beans on the right. (below)

I'll be picking green beans in another week or so and plan on using a pressure canner this year instead of the boiling water canner I've used in the past. I'm looking at this 16 quart Presto canner and also the All American canners. I've never used a pressure canner before... does anyone have any brand preferences?

I hope I've not bored you with so many garden photos and details... because I'm sure I'll be sharing more later! ;)

I just realized I don't think I ever shared the patio we (mainly Roger) built this year. Here's a sneak peek looking through the beans in the garden:

Come back soon to see all of it!

Take care and God bless,
Lana