It is August.
And I'm my own worse enemy.
The time of year that the garden goes crazy. I could spend all my waking hours picking, shelling, peeling, slicing, dicing, freezing, and canning. It is preservation mania. It is craziness.
Do I think that I live in a country where the only food I will have to eat in February is what I grew and preserved with my own hands? I tried to be realistic this year and plant a smaller garden and make fewer goals. I wanted to enjoy this summer with a baby.
But it must be something about August air. The fresh colors of tomatoes, peppers, peaches, and corn make the mind whirl with possibilities. Suddenly I'm looking up new recipes for relish, chutney, jam, and salsa.
I don't need to make my own pizza sauce. But I want to. I know how. I enjoy it. We love it. I know what is in it. I don't want to buy it. I want to make it myself. And it isn't hard. Just time consuming.
And time is what August lacks.
And the almost funny thing is all the ladies who write to me who wish they could do these things. They wish they had mothers who taught them how to garden and can. Since they don't know how- they feel deprived. Maybe they should be glad for what they don't know.
I am grateful that my mother taught me to garden and preserve food. And to love it. But...
I was grocery shopping yesterday and listened to myself as I walked down the aisle. "I don't need bagels. I can make my own. I don't need tortillas. I can make my own. I should try making my own peanut butter. I have a recipe for homemade mayonnaise that I should try making sometime. I have tomatoes so I should make my own ketchup." And on and on.
It is ridiculous.
Ridiculous that I think these thoughts. Ridiculous that I (sometimes) listen.
No wonder I don't like shopping. It is not just finding the best deal and corralling children. It is silencing the voice that would like to attempt to turn me into Wonder Woman. Or threaten guilt.
It is August.
The tomato juice can go in ice cream buckets in the freezer till January and then you can simmer it down to pizza sauce then. I've been doing that the last two winters and I kind of like the non pressure.
ReplyDeleteGood idea. Except that I don't have much freezer space!
DeleteGina
Oh, the struggle! You said it well.
ReplyDeleteThat little voice you try to silence is the same one I voice aloud to my daughters at the store, lol. I despise that voice, but it wins so much of the time :/
ReplyDeleteYes, I can see it both ways.. I never learned any of this so I've mostly stuck with refrigerator pickle-type projects. I so treasure the homemade goodies we occasionally are blessed with. Wish I could come over and help with your produce - that could help both our dilemmas ! : )
ReplyDeleteSuz
That would be fun! Nothing makes a job go faster than someone to chat with!
DeleteGina
I have some of that 'ridiculous' spirit in me too, Gina. I smiled at walking in the grocery store and saying..I can make that..I do that all the time!!
ReplyDeleteI have started to freeze now and cook in winter and it works well..why not cook/can some of this in winter when we have more time. But the picking still has to happen now..and right now my garden is calling me..
You amaze me! We welcomed our first baby into our lives in mid-July and I can barely manage our "eat-fresh only" garden! What's the secret to balancing life AND a baby? I must figure this out haha.
ReplyDeleteMy older children are a HUGE help! I couldn't do it without them! It is easier now to garden than when I had just one baby!
DeleteGina
Me too, but I really do love making homemade pizza with homemade canned pizza sauce in February. And the pasta sauces at the store just don't taste good after you've had your own. It's a good feeling to see my deep freeze getting really full of veggies, and shelves down stairs getting lined up with jars. But my youngest is 10 and can help. I don't know how you manage a big garden with a baby, plus 4. I think it's amazing. And yes, I have the voice in the store too, lol
ReplyDeleteWelcome home. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd oooh! Cheers on a great post. I loved listening in on your grocery store "voices." :) And I like that without resolving all the complex time and identity issues, you can move forward, doing what you can. Or canning what you do. Or something... Ahem.
Great connecting with you again this weekend! Wishing you abundance in the coming days - and not just zucchinis!
DeleteGina
I had to smile as I read this post because I hear the same "voices" as I walk the isles at the grocer! You are right ... It is wonderful and fantastic and amazing that there are women who know how to grow and preserve and prepare all their family's nutritional needs. It is a beautiful legacy and tradition that many other women are deprived of. Every summer I am approached by others wanting, and sometimes even begging, to be taught this knowledge and homemaking skill which I am happy to share.
ReplyDeleteBUT, what a FABULOUS blessing that we also live in a era that provides the modern convenience of the grocer; because some seasons of our lives don't allow us to do anything more than fill the grocery cart.
Blessings to you and yours,
Mrs.B