in my kitchen, around the farm
summer's tsunami
Earlier this week I shared a little note in our chat about what’s been going on around these parts. Because of some logistical/business type stuff with my (hopefully-to-be) book publisher, my lackadaisical approach to editing and organizing my manuscript has been squashed. Instead of getting it done by the fall, it now needs to be done in a couple of weeks. I’m feeling a tad stretched in this summertime of food preservation and growing and harvesting and, now, finishing up this book. But I’m reminding myself, sometimes multiple times a day, that these are choices and decisions I have made for myself. These things have meaning and purpose to me. Even when the tasks are crunched and heavy, they are mine and it’s my job to sift away the overwhelm and feed the gratitude. It doesn’t mean I ignore that this is a challenging time. I’m not going to deny that things feel tight. I acknowledge the reality of my situation as it is today. There’s a lot going on, but I have what it takes to accomplish what must be done. And I will. Just like I always do. And, like I said in my chat, I can do that with grace - best not to be a turd to those around me.
I’ve been staring at words, rearranging words, cutting out words, adding words for days on end now. Forgive me for having little more words for you here. Instead, I’m going to do an image heavy post with updates on what’s happening around here as we begin putting up our food for the year 2024/25. What will be happening in the world when we crack open a jar of peaches in January ‘25? What new little fandangoes will the powers-that-should-not-be have for us when I pull out some of my summer butter in December? One never knows… they like to keep us guessing. All I know is that I will be well nourished. And with that, here we go.
As my longer time readers will know, I’m a big proponent of homemade vinegars. I’ve written about them throughout the years so I encourage you to do some backwards super sleuthing if any of this is new to you. I make vinegars from scratch, using the local, seasonal flora and fauna about our home. It’s an easy, inexpensive process that delivers all manner of tasty, healthy vinegars for your medicinal and culinary pleasure. I very often use oxymels with my foraged herbal medicines. This is a 50:50 mix of vinegar to honey with whatever plant substrate you’re working with. This also happens to be a simple way to make shrubs. You can figure that one out easily - a little tipple of oxymel/shrub with some sparkling, good mineral water is a delight on a hot summer day. A delight AND a healthy way to get in some minerals, electrolytes, and a myriad of other nutrients from the wild foods around us.
