We got up this morning and had a big breakfast with french toast, bacon, and eggs.  We usually have our big breakfast that DH loves on Sundays but he is leaving later today to stay over night and visit some friends so he won't be here for breakfast tomorrow. 

As a family we then went and worked in the garden.  I wandered from plant to plant seeing what needed to be harvested.  Picking an eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, a few potatoes, and cucumbers as we went.  We also then did the bean picking.  DH and his brother planted the fall garden and winter over items that needed to be direct seeded.  The transplants have a few more weeks before they go in.  We will also add lettuce as soon as DH prepares more ground.

My daughter and I then came in and snapped beans, cut zucchini and tomatoes for stewing together, and finished up the blackberry jam we started yesterday.  I have everything in the canners now.  I have noticed how different canning is this year compared to previous years when I have bought most of the produce.  This year I can a few of several different items at a time instead of mass assembly lining one item at a time.  It has a much more leisurely pace about it that I am enjoying.  I do have to pay more attention to make sure that I am getting enough of everything done before its season is over. 

What a learning process food preservation and homesteading has been.  While I have been so impatient the Lord has laid out an amazing lesson plan.  I learned how to can from my mother who preserved all of our food for the year from her large garden.  I began canning slowly as an adult beginning with the wonderful jams I remembered from my childhood.  I then canned a few more things each year buying from farmers.  This process taught me the seasons and when to look for things to be ripe.  At the same time I had moderates successes in my own backyard garden in the city.

Last year was the first big push putting up about 500 jars of food from local markets and farmers.  I had a bigger garden patch but I had many failures when I tried growing from seeds.  I did the assembly line canning with my family pitching in as able.  This year I have a huge garden with some successes and some failures.  I have paced myself canning with each new fruit and vegetable at a time.  I have done a little each day.  While I still have to order some from local farmers, I know what I can do each day, I have learned the steps, and I understand how to ease my load.  I feel so blessed for all I have learned.   

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