Trying to Keep Up

It's the time of year when gardening and food preservation starts to feel like work and not a therapeutic hobby. I think I'm turning into a green bean. So much so, I'm pulling the plants this weekend simply to be rid of the little monsters. They've been eaten, dried, froze, shared with many friends, neighbors, and family that they are starting to say no more, please! It's like the annual visit of the overwhelming zucchini, but only in the form of green beans. And picking them takes WAY too long -- you can't see them, my back hurts, and there's these nasty giant Japanese beetle looking creatures flying all over the place. Yes, the plants are definitely coming out this weekend after the last picking which I'll keep for the final season green-bean enjoyment. I don't even like green beans! (Well, I sort of do.. but they clearly are not one of my favorites.)

So what else?
Potatoes are ready and someone suggested drying them - so I gotta start that process.
Onions. They are getting ready too. Each year I lose about 1/2 to rotting, so this year I have to attempt to do things differently so about 1/2 will be dried. My dehydrator is going to get it's workout.
Celery. It too needs to get in the drier. It will be easy to dry since it's only the leaves.
Corn. In about a week or two I'm going to have about 200 ears of corn to do something with. I really wanted to can it... but everything I'm reading says corn needs to go in a pressure cooker and I really don't want to invest $300 in a pressure canner just for the corn. I probably would use it for other things down the road, but for now its just the corn. Maybe some other time. My dear mother offered up some freezer space so I'll take advantage of that for the corn.
Tomatoes. Holy Toledo there are tomatoes. I have early girls (eating and canning) and Amish Paste (canning). In about a month I'll be smothered in tomatoes. They will definitely be canned since a hot water bath is sufficient for them. I think I'll be canning every week for about a month. My mom will get her share too and probably make spaghetti sauce.
Butternut Squash. They are forming! And of course the vines are consuming everything in their path.
Cantaloupe. I didn't plant a single seed or buy a single plant and I have melons coming out the wazoo! I throw the seeds and rinds in the compost pile each year and the pile doesn't get hot enough late in the season to kill the seeds. So when I spread the compost back on the garden the following year, melons start sprouting. Love it.
Carrots. The final couple are coming out 'cause the melons need their space.
Fall/Winter Seeds. I planted more! Like I need more planted? Chinese cabbage, mustard and collard greens, Thai lettuce, more spinach and beets (something is eating the beets as they sprout). I planted more 'cause I actually had to buy spinach this past weekend and hated every second of having to buy it.

Phew! And I really wanted to take pictures but Rick always has the camera. I need to get my own camera to share with you the beautiful broccoli babies and quinoa seed heads forming. What visions of grandeur.

Oh, and I found a new "diet" that I really, really like 'cause it fits EXACTLY what I grow in the backyard. More on that coming shortly. I'm sure many of you know about -- Eat To Live by Dr. Fuhrman? It's totally vegan and the part I like most -- SIMPLE. No weird food concoctions or ingredients -- just the basics. Fruit, Vegetables, beans/legumes, and nuts/seeds. He encourages raw vegetables, salads two times a day and very, very easy recipes. No dairy, No meat, No eggs, No grains, No cereals, No breads. I can handle it all except the eggs... I'm having a bunch of difficulty giving up the eggs. More of Eat to Live in another post.