Harvest Blessings

Fresh Strawberry Rhubarb Pie from my strawberry patch and my dads rhubarb

My first crop of raspberries!
Kaci juicing the tomatoes for spaghetti sauce.
Our spaghetti sauce in bottles.
Dan trying to out do me at fresh salsa,  If you like it HOT he did it you are after flavor and freshness you'll like mine.
One weekend while Dan was gone the kids and  I did raspberry jam and corn out of our garden.
My sorry attempt at bottling tomatoes.  I did learn a lot this year and this was my worst attempt so I don't feel to bad but when I pulled the bottles out of the water I wanted to cry.
Salsa,   we Love Salsa and so do our good friends the Williams' we have started a tradition of doing taco night and having fresh salsa once a week as soon as the tomatoes are on.   We usually have to work around soccer which works out since they have 3 kids playing soccer and Jake plays and sometimes we have to work around Young Men's but we still manage to get it in.  Last year Tina and I thought maybe we could try freezing it and it would maintain some freshness.   It was OK in the flavor department but the texture was not good.  I used it for recipes that called for salsa but we decided it wasn't worth doing it again.  We all love when the peaches are on and we can add a peach to the mix.   So I decided to try and bottle it knowing the results will not be fresh but hopefully the flavor it good and we can enjoy salsa throughout the winter.   I used my fresh recipe then added the vinegar and cooked it the least amount possible and then did the water bath.   Hopefully it works. 
My grandma and grandpa Miller have a plum tree and Kaci couldn't eat enough plums.  I think her and Dan had a race to see who could eat the most and then they both had another competition :)  I think they both consumed over 12 in one day enough to make anyone sick.   
Last Saturday while spending some time with my grandma Kaci and I helped her bottle peaches.  This is a fond memory I have of my childhood helping grandma can peaches.  I would peel the peaches and as my mom and grandma would slice them I would sneak a slice off of every peach I could.   I had to make sure they tasted good enough to bottle.   My grandma worked full time and still found satisfaction in bottling spaghetti sauce, peaches, pears, pickles, relish, tomato soup, jam jam jam, carrots, and freezing corn.  My grandpa enjoys and takes pride in his garden.  This is true with my Grandma and Grandpa Barnhurst who have past on.   If you know where Hatch, Utah is you will be amazed that my grandpa could grow such and amazing garden because Hatch has a much shorter growing season than most of us.   He had tall fences all around his garden that helped protect it from the elements.  Because of this tradition my parents also can be found carrying on this tradition.   Dan's mom and dad grow a garden and his mom is very good at bottling.  Dan and I have planted a few gardens in our married life and it was so fun to be able to plant a garden again.  I loved having my strawberry patch and raspberry patch and the breakfast they provided every morning.   I loved weeding early in the morning listening to the birds and animals chatting and being amazed at the miracles around me.   I was excited to watch the enthusiasm of my children watching our garden grow and harvesting it.  I will work on having them be excited about weeding it in the next few years.    I am grateful for the  blessings our family has recieved this year from our garden and for the parents and grandparents who have taught us and continue to teach us.