Oscar Stew

The frost has come, the snow has dumped, and the growing season is over. Good thing we took some pictures! The happiest and saddest time in the garden is the big harvest at the end of the season. Here’s the happy part:

Day after day, week after week, the garden churned out buckets of fruits and veggies. No damaging hail storms this year, thank goodness!

Even sliced up like this, eggplant may not appeal to many, but…

…when you grill it like this, it’s a delicacy!

As much as we want to grow everything in our backyard, time and money simply can’t afford to turn our .15 acres into rolling hills of goodness. Good thing we have the berry patch to back us up. Look at that rookie go!

Self discipline is essential, Eleanor. Pick only the reddest of the red, and don’t eat them yet!

Don’t eat any of them? The very thought is giving her a berry big headache!

Time to recharge before we pick a couple more rows. Chug chug chug chug!

It must be nice for Rowan and Eleanor to be so close to the ground when it comes to picking. Daddy says his back is aching from all the bending over. Take it like a woman Ryan!

Time for another snack. Are we ever going home? Don’t go planting any peanuts in the berry field Ellie!

All of her training has prepared her for this moment. I’m not supervising, I’m just taking pictures! 

This, is what a real strawberry looks like. Do you know what a real strawberry tastes like?

Time for dinner. I sent the braves into the wilderness and this is what they brought home:

I think even they are proud that besides the corn and the egg, everything else on their plate is home grown. I have yet to convince Ryan to build a chicken coop… 

Is anybody tired of having salad with every meal? Too bad!

So tell me Rowan, how excited are you about those carrots? Be honest!

That’s a big beet. I hate to brag, but dang that looks good!

To help you understand how pure (and delicious!) this food really is, Brinley stripped down to her pure self to make her point:

There was no way the boy was going to be outdone by his sister.

Homemade margherita pizza. Num!

For the first time ever we got lucky and successfully grew dill in our garden. It’s very good on egg salad!

These carrots might not look the same, but they taste the same.

Here’s the saddest part. Even though this is quite the haul, this is all of it…until next summer. Waaaaa!!!

Here’s a preview of our next post, where we make all that stuff in to goodness (like roasted tomatillo salsa) that will last…all the way to next summer!