Four and half more pints of ketchup, seven more quarts of tomato juice and seven quarts of pickled Hungarian peppers are canned…and I quit! Oh wait, I forgot about that basket of small pears Coop picked. Well, looks like I’ll be making pear butter tomorrow…just when I thought I was done. Weeeell, I’m very close to being done. Then I quit! But I hear this little voice inside whispering, “Yeah, but what about those Hungarians and Amish Paste still out there?”
Yeah, what about them? I’ll tell you what about them…they can stay there, they can lay there and rot. I am tired of canning! My shelves are full, my freezer is full and I’m tired.”
“Now you know you won’t let them go to waste. You live by the rule of waste not want not.”
You’re right, you’re right, OKAY!?…you know me too well…*sigh*…I will do my best to make sure they are put to use, if not by me then by someone.
Here’s the thing; I always plan for and plant more than we can use because one never knows when one type of produce or one section of the garden might fail. That was pretty much the case with the sweet peppers, but boy those Hungarians took off and all the tomatoes did exceptionally well this year. A variety of winter squash didn’t do so well due to vine borers, but we got a little of this and a little of that and we had plenty of zucchini! All I know is that I have enough veggies preserved for the winter and then some and I am tired of standing at the sink and stove, tired of finding tomato splatter on things it should not be on, tired of washing jars and kettles and kitchen towels and chopping veggies and peeling tomatoes, I’m tired of my kitchen table looking like a produce stand at the farmers market and tired of hauling dishpans full of tomato skins out to the compost bin, tired of the spills and the clutter piling up, and, and…
(catches her breath) I am so very, very grateful that through all the planning and hard work, our joint effort with nature has given us such beautiful, bounteous and tasty results. It has all been so very much worth it so…um…er..if you will please, uh…just disregard my rant, ok? : )
I'm with you! Spent the day cleaning and more cleaning, even mopping the sticky pickled beet juice and tomato seeds from the floor~finally~ & gathered all my supplies in a neat pile to haul downstairs...and my mind kept telling me "you are not done yet!"...
ReplyDeleteWhat about the Jalapeno jelly Son wants made out of the extras still growing profusely? What about a few more jars of tomato sauce that can be made with those still ripening? and why not pickle another jar of beans since they still are growing?
We've been getting cold at nite, in the 30's...just wishing...it would hit the 30 mark ONCE! Then I'd have to be done! I can't waste a thing either! Course my chickens love me dearly each afternoon...they hear me in the garden and start 'begging'!
(hubby came in tonite, saw all my canning stuff neatly stacked under and on things and said "I thought you Quit?"
So I'm in the same boat as you!!
Hope you have a great weekend!
Barb
That is the one thing I have learned this summer.......canning is HARD WORK!
ReplyDeleteI love your canning posts.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of my grandmothers.
Isn't abundance such a mixed blessing? Remember, anything that rots in the garden is compost! ;)
ReplyDeleteWOW! You have been busy. Everything looks yummy. We were so busy this summer with Logan in baseball and then All Stars that the only thing I could can was weeds :o( I know it's a lot of hard work.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this. However I'm not quite done - just need more time to be productive.
ReplyDelete