Today's harvest soup

Today's lunch and dinner is soup from the garden. I am opting to cook once a day in large portions rather than spending my precious time in the kitchen all day. These veggies were all given to me from other people's gardens. I had to leave my garden in Cheyenne to the people who are renting my house so I am missing out on the fall harvest. I am bringing things in from the garden I planted a month ago, just none of these things!

The flavor of this soup came from a pound of breakfast sausage I had. I am still not buying groceries (It has been a month and a half now), so I am using what I have. The pot I used was a 10 quart one, so you can imagine how spread out the meat is. My bowl had one piece! :)

I sauteed the meat and onions together, then added some chopped garlic cloves. To that I added a bunch of water and then started throwing in the chopped veggies. I even put in oatmeal that was left over from breakfast and some leftover chili.  The veggies I added you can see in the picture are squash, potatoes, beets, tomatoes, more squash, and garlic.  The spices I added were Italian seasoning and Herbamare.

This soup turned out way yummy. Next time I would put in less water though. The water in the veggies add extra water to what I already put in. I served this soup with rice that I cooked in butter, salt and garlic. A healthier version would be to use coconut oil or olive oil instead of the butter.

Happy Healthy,
Elisa

Family work

Since being at the farm, we have divided up the work between each of us and gotten it done as individuals. It worked and we got things done but we didn't see much of each other. We moved to the farm to be together though!
This morning,after a family counsel on Sunday, we tried things differently and it went very very well. 

Yummy carrots.

Thinning carrots so the ones left can get big.

• When my oldest and I got back from his early morning seminary and my exercise, we all met in the kitchen at 7am and listened to Dad read scriptures while the rest of us made breakfast,  and cleaned up.
• Then we all headed for the garden. We worked out there getting things watered, weeded, banks built up, grasshoppers killed, the fence secured and the carrots and spinach thinned. 
• When that was done, we all moved down to the poultry and cows. We got them watered, fed, eggs collected and the trees watered.
• After that, we split up and did some individual chores. 

Lots of running around in the tall grass was happening during 'find the eggs that are getting lain outside' time.

It was so nice to work with my family. I am anxious to do it again tomorrow and then the next day. We accomplished a lot and in a short time. Working together brought us together and fostered harmony even in just this one time of doing it. I can't imagine the long term effects.

Living on a farm

The work load is heavier and we have little to no money but we are together and learning to have better relationships. Worth it.

Garden Progress

The garden has been in for a few days longer than 1month. It is doing pretty good with enough problems to teach me what to do better next time.
The onions are growing, but they did not germinate extremely well.
The kale did not come up well at all but the plants that germinated are growing well.
The basil is growing quickly and beautifully.
The spinach is doing awesome. We will start harvesting it this week.
I am getting ready to plant garlic this week.
A few beets survived the rabbit that had a meal right down the entire row. I am letting them mature but the row looks pathetic.
Grasshoppers are eating the beet leaves. I have done some reading and think it will be best to use some Nolo Bait. We are going to use Neman Oil first though because it is available to us free.
I saw the first caterpillar in the garden yesterday and threw him out.
The carrots are growing really well. We have been working on thinning them every day. It is a big job because we planted so many!
I started harvesting the icicle radishes. They are huge and hot.
The cilantro is growing beautifully. Some of it did not germinate.
I was expecting low germination because many of the seeds are from 2008. The garden is doing well despite that fact.
I am working on getting materials put together for winter gardening in the greenhouse. Some of that will need to be planted in the next month and we still need to finish building the greenhouse. It will all come together.
So, that is some of what is going on in the garden right now.