Just East of Eden : RELEVANT HARVESTS

Thursday, September 10, 2020

RELEVANT HARVESTS

Tuesday morning, as soon as I could get outside without upsetting the neighbors with morning activity, I harvested both apple trees and every vegetable that was ripe for the picking.

Yesterday’s morning sky a little after 8 AM: the moon still showing.

AM Harvest.

All the apples, corn and onions are harvested – there’s some stuff still left in the garden, but very little: some zucchini, celery, carrots, and herbs: the beans are sporadic and pretty much played out.

I was in my kitchen from 9 AM to around 10 PM with chopping, slicing, dicing and bagging vegetables for the freezer. But that’s okay … I’ll be enjoying yesterday’s work with my feet comfortably resting, all Winter long 😉

The apples didn’t even get a cursory glance other than the moving of them from the harvest basket to work bowls.

Katrina Cabbage; 2 cups, sliced.

1 cup baggie portions.

I love fresh corn – I will even eat it right off the stalk and shucked 😉 Last year I didn’t get any corn at all. I am very happy with this year’s haul.

The smell of garden grown tomatoes is wonderful! If I don’t grow anything else – tomatoes are ALWAYS grown 😊

This is going to taste so awesome this Winter; and the smell when I open the baggies is going to have me chomping at the bit for Spring’s arrival.

Prepared veggies ready for the freezer.

I had cleaned the kitchen and bagged the garbage, but when I opened the door, my lungs and eyes were assailed with a very strong campfire odor that I recognized immediately as wildfire smoke drifting across the river on the winds from Oregon. My lungs instantly seized up and my heart rate accelerated.

I had been so engrossed in the kitchen, that I hadn’t noticed the smoke settling over the Park: it was thick (visibly white like drifting river fog, and heavy with pungency). I quickly shut the door and set the garbage aside until tomorrow – my garbage is small amounts, now that there is just me.

And, I was exhausted from standing on my feet all day prepping veggies for the freezer. I just called it an early night and shuffled down the hallway to the bedroom.

From what I could see out of the livingroom windows when I woke up this morning … the morning air was still hazy with wildfire smoke; and from the shrouding and drifting smoke, still as lung seizing pungent.

So, my garden did not get watered.

Instead, I changed plans; and made Apple Pie Filling with some of the apples I harvested Tuesday morning, to put in the freezer for pies later on. Then, I got busy shredding, chopping, and bagging vegetables I didn’t get to Tuesday evening – that staved off the boredom of being housebound.

This card made me laugh. Bob always gave me humorous cards; I was glad to see this

Making Apple Pie Filling for 2 pies.

Pie Filling ready for the freezer.

Wildfire smoke thick again.

Thin sliced apple slices for Winter casserole dishes.

I’m getting encouraging feedback that my Blog & FB posts are helpful; another relevant ‘harvest’.

The kids always tell me that I am irrelevant; I’m glad others find me relevant …