Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Putting foods by


We have spent the last four days with time and effort devoted to the harvest and processing of the crops of the season. It is an old and satisfying human endeavor that brings us in harmony with the structure and timing of nature's cycles.

Marcia remembers working with her parents and grandparents as a young child in the 1950's. Bill joined the practice in the 1970's, and we carry on the tradition up to the present, and hopefully, well into the future.


This bucket shows the corn crop which was picked and shucked in the morning.




The ears are blanched, cooled and sliced, packaged, and placed in the freezer in the afternoon.




We worked up another bushel of green sweet peppers into stuffed peppers -- filled with meat, rice, and seasonings, topped with tomato sauce and adorned with cheese. They head to the freezer in smaller meal-sized packages.










We no longer grow our own peaches, but rely on Wayne County farmers closer to the lake for our yearly supply of Red Haven peaches. These separate from the pit with ease for quartering and placement in canning jars.






This yearly full job of preserving crops for future consumption has largely been turned over to large factory companies. We find the individual involvement pleasant and provides quality control and personal satisfaction of a high order.




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4 comments:

Pat Pauly said...

Hmm, I am comparing Jars on the Kitchen Shelf photos, these seem a bit greenish. The cast on the photos, not the jars. New camera, unknown settings??

Marcia said...

No -- you too can have the lovely green colors with your old camera if you just manage to drop it onto your tile floor!

Grace said...

I love reading your blog as much for the art as for the foods you harvest and prepare.

Sometimes I get tired of heading to the grocery for "fresh" foods. I know it's hard work but it must feel so good to take food directly from the earth yourselves.

Hubby has a small garden in our backyard and we got a few veggies from it this year but obviously not on the scale that really makes a big change, still going shopping for most of ours.

Marcia said...

Thanks, Grace! We do love having our own produce and can't imagine not having the gardens...:-)