Garden Update

Our garden has really been thriving this year and as usual, I’m wondering “what do I do?” with all these fresh veggies. In our home, I’m the biggest veggie-eater (as well as vegetarian) so it’s up to me to eat all the fresh produce, but with so much all at once, it’s impossible to keep up.  This time of year always gets super busy in our house, with my husband getting ready for harvesting crops, work, and this year, the upcoming arrival of our baby girl.

In past years, I have canned salsa, stewed tomatoes, and pickles, and frozen sweet corn. This year I have canned more pickles, salsa, and frozen green beans, sweet corn and carrots. Whew! It sure gets to be a lot of work, but is always worth it in the end.

With a baby on the way, and in the midst of home renovations, I am slowly learning to give myself breaks once in a while. For my salsa this year, I bought the pre-made canning spice packet and I have to say, it turned out really good. I added my own poblano peppers and fresh onions. The perfectionist side of me struggles with doing something if I can’t give it 100%. But this year I was faced with letting all my tomatoes go rotten, or taking a shortcut and I am proud of myself for just “getting it done”. There are too many other things to focus on, and with limited time and energy, I’ve had to figure out how to conserve energy wherever I can.

It sounds like a simple thing…letting go of the idea that everything has to be “perfect” all the time. But for someone who has been this way my whole life, it’s been a huge struggle. I have asked myself if I really want to do something if I can’t do it perfectly. Do I want to start a project if I can’t do every step from scratch?  The answer is “yes!”  And I will be sharing some of my new canning recipes with you soon.  A spicy dill pickle (from scratch) and a quick and easy way to make salsa. As well as a delicious tomato soup/bisque recipe from scratch.

The garden is just one example of a project around here that is far from perfect…it got planted, weeded (for awhile), and still produced great, all while looking pretty overgrown. Its not going to win any contests on looks, but that’s okay! And I’m finally okay with that too. I’ve tried to quit making excuses to other people, and to myself, and stopped saying “please excuse the mess (or weeds),” to everyone who sees it.

At some point, I have to accept it’s better to get things done sometimes rather than get them partially done and be perfect!  So here’s to a happy harvest from my messy overgrown garden. 🙂

Xoxo, Erin