Digging for Gold

Yukon Gold!

The kids and I put on our garden boots and gloves at 7am this morning and headed out to attack our forest/garden.  We did not beat the heat, but working early certainly helped.  We set a timer for 2 hours and took a break to drink water, sit, and cool off every 30 minutes. Then we got back to work and pulled weeds, tore out the flowery remains from the spring vegetables that are done harvesting (the broccoli was 4 ft tall...oopsie!) and picked peppers, squash, and cucumber after cucumber after cucumber.

38 cucumbers, actually. And there are dozens more that will be ready in a week.  We will be making pickles, this week! 

This picture is ONLY what we harvested today.  There is more out there...a lot more. But we were tired and hot, and tired. and tired...

The fridge is already full of zucchini and yellow squash and the first few tomatoes, but we'll add a few dozen more. Who wants to bake me some zucchini bread? Come get some squash!

Corbin ran around with a zucchini in each hand and called everything "corn".

Quincy had the dirty job of wading through the squash plants with me. It "itched" her legs but she surprised me and toughed it out, and helped the most with the picking.

Reese hauled 3 wheelbarrow loads (with help) of weeds and dead plants to the compost pile.

We also harvested a few more tomatoes, carrots and onions, blackberries, jalapenos, 20 giant green bell peppers, and a plethora of beets, but the most fun was the potatoes.

"We're on a treasure hunt..." I told the children, and gave each of them a shovel.

They dove into the dirt and squealed everytime they hit something!
"It's a giant one!" "It's buried!" "Help me catch this one!" 

We dug up 17 lbs of beautiful yukon gold poatoes! 
I think I need to dice up these bad boys, add some peppers and onions, and freeze a few batches of home fries. I'll add ham and eggs and homemade cheddar later. Nothing like an OD's kitchen sink for breakfast. 

The week is off to a great start.
This morning was totally worth the cold shower I had to take to cool off.
I'm off to eat a popsicle and take a nap.