Well, my time away from the computer is getting easier.  I guess I am adjusting well and it feels good being more productive with my time. 

My garden this year was a total flop.  The okra grew about an inch and stopped, I got one squash and one zuccini (see, I can't even spell it, let alone grow it), and my beans.......well, I got one picking which amounted to  1 quart and 1 pint total.  BUT............I have a plan that is already in motion and next year WILL be better!  I have started composting, and I have decided to get that disgusting horse manure that everyone keeps telling me I need.  UGH!  It just turns my stomach to think about growing our food under such "conditions".

Inspite of my poor harvest this year, we have been abundantly blessed by our friends and neighbors.  We have been given a great deal of corn, several squash, a few cucumbers and even swiss chard, which is new to me.  My favorite gift, however, is the 2 bushels of peaches given to us by a neighbor.  This woman and her husband are both just a wealth of gardening information.  I have visited with them both several times about their various gardens and orchards.  They really inspire me!  Oh yes, and DJ's grandmother made us the BEST blackberry pie.  Brandon and a friend went blueberry picking last week.  I didn't know what to do with them, so I froze them to use later.  The kids and I worked this afternoon processing the food we have been given.  Hunter felt very grown up getting to cut the ends off the beans and snap them.  Brandon helped remove the peels from the peaches and half them.  We then canned the green beans, corn and peaches. We also used the seal-a-meal to freeze some peaches and corn on the cob.

I am hoping to start sharing eggs with my very generous neighbors very soon.  Those pesky chickens are certainly NOT being generous with the eggs.  Infact, they are not laying at all yet.  They are 5 months old, so I really hoped to have SOMETHING by now.  Any experienced chicken farmers that can give me some helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.

Gotta run!  Tomorrow is busy.  The older kids do not have school.  They cancelled it because we are supposed to get a great deal of rain from the hurricane on the coast.  DJ is off work and hoping to spend some extra time with the kids while I take care of the daycare kids!