I'm in overtime mode and the strawberries are the reason. Twenty quarts of strawberries over the past 9 days have been keeping me hopping. The time to pick them totals about 1.25 hrs, but the time it takes to preserve them sometimes takes double that time and even triple depending on what I do. Today was a jam-making day and it took 3 hrs from beginning to end. I had forgotten how canning consumes a bunch of time but the results are oh-so-worth-it. I realized today that when I hot-water bath again, I'm going to make a day of it because once the water gets boiling, it seems a waste not to keep using it for a couple batches of whatever is ready to be canned. A yield of only 6 pints of jam had me questioning the practicality of firing up the only canner I have which is fairly large. I may look into a smaller canner, or utilizing the time better. The rest of the berries are getting cleaned and cut up for Ricky to snack on or freezing. I typically eat so many while I'm picking them that I'm not hungry for them anymore. The rest of the gardens don't stop needing attention while the berries are doing their thing. The weeds keep growing, the compost keeps cooking and begging to be turned, and the crops need fed with finished compost. Mulch needs laid on the beds and the peas need picked, cleaned, and preserved. Herbs need cut and spread out to dry. By the end of the day I feel like I just can't go anymore -- I can't bend over one more time and I can't take another step. Truly. Berries, berries, berries... and working overtime. Time and half of R&R will be perfect pay.
I'm in overtime mode and the strawberries are the reason. Twenty quarts of strawberries over the past 9 days have been keeping me hopping. The time to pick them totals about 1.25 hrs, but the time it takes to preserve them sometimes takes double that time and even triple depending on what I do. Today was a jam-making day and it took 3 hrs from beginning to end. I had forgotten how canning consumes a bunch of time but the results are oh-so-worth-it. I realized today that when I hot-water bath again, I'm going to make a day of it because once the water gets boiling, it seems a waste not to keep using it for a couple batches of whatever is ready to be canned. A yield of only 6 pints of jam had me questioning the practicality of firing up the only canner I have which is fairly large. I may look into a smaller canner, or utilizing the time better. The rest of the berries are getting cleaned and cut up for Ricky to snack on or freezing. I typically eat so many while I'm picking them that I'm not hungry for them anymore. The rest of the gardens don't stop needing attention while the berries are doing their thing. The weeds keep growing, the compost keeps cooking and begging to be turned, and the crops need fed with finished compost. Mulch needs laid on the beds and the peas need picked, cleaned, and preserved. Herbs need cut and spread out to dry. By the end of the day I feel like I just can't go anymore -- I can't bend over one more time and I can't take another step. Truly. Berries, berries, berries... and working overtime. Time and half of R&R will be perfect pay.
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