Summer Happenings

It seems like time flies by faster and faster. Our daughter graduated from both high school and community college in June. We are so proud of her! June was filled with graduation-related activities and celebrations to recognize her hard work. 

Very soon after, we took a week-long family vacation in nearby Discover Bay. Since the resort was situated right on the bay, we brought our boat along and went crabbing. Our daughter even drove the boat for a while. 

Below is the crab we caught in the first trap we pulled in. The crab were fairly large and most of the ones we caught we were able to keep.

The bottom shelf of the freezer is now filled with fresh Red Rock and Dungeness crab. We like to live back the crab while still on the boat and then when we get home we clean it and freeze it raw (see my previous post about how to live back crabs). Below are a couple photos from a night at the resort eating some of the crabs. Since we were dipping the crab in butter (vegan butter for me and my daughter), we also steamed artichokes and potatoes that I had brought along from our garden, for dipping those into the butter, too. I also put home-grown chives on the potatoes; this is my first year growing chives. That was quite a feast we had!

Other fun during our vacation included learning to play poker and putting together several puzzles. We also went for a walk on a section of the Olympic Discovery Trail and were amazed when we found the trail's end.

Toward the end of the family vacation, we cleaned the room, washed all the bedding, and then gave the last two nights to our daughter and her friends so they could hang out there and enjoy it. 

In our spare time, we've been busy with farm chores, among them canning, freezing, and dehydrating as much food as we have the energy to deal with. Below are a few of the latest little harvests and canning projects we've worked on.

We managed to put away 13 jars of cherry pie filling. Above is the second batch. Our potatoes have grown quite large this year. There are so many potatoes out in the garden. We just dig out a few every day so we don't have too many to deal with. Today, we have two dehydrators going with sliced potatoes, and we froze a bunch of potatoes cut into french fries. I always blanch the cut potatoes, dry them, and rub them with olive oil before freezing them in gallon-sized ziplock bags.

Our six-year-old blueberry bushes are really starting to produce this year with a couple gallons every other day. Next year we might be able to sell berries. Below is one of the first blueberry harvests. 

Hope you are having an enjoyable summer filled with many blessings.