A Little (But Big) Farm Announcement

(It's good news, I promise!)

You have an endless well of love to give. Don’t ever forget how lucky you are to be able to gift love to all those around you. — Sweet Gimlet, who is very excited to so have a little boy to give her lots of pats and skritches.

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Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm

The newest farm addition is only going to have two legs, not four. But we’re thrilled to have some help coming! (Even if he’ll be very little help for the next 4-5 years or so.)

I, however, am rethinking my choices of having my third trimester coincide with summer in the south. The buttons on my largest, summer-weight work shirt are holding on for dear life, and I regularly have to take long breaks inside between hot chores. I haven’t quite started to waddle yet, but I did catch this little guy walking down the road faster than me the other day.

Last weekend I canned tomatoes. We’d stashed bags and bags of frozen tomatoes in our freezers last summer, but now we need that space for making freezer meals in preparation for baby’s arrival.

(Yes, that’s a bathtub full of plum tomatoes)

It took all day to peel, core, seed and can them, but we now actually have space for a couple of trays of frozen lasagna and maybe some chili.

This year’s blueberries are the BEST we’ve ever had. (Which isn’t saying much because the past few years, we’ve gotten like a total of 7 blueberries from 5 bushes!) Sweet and abundant, it took all my self restraint not to just sit and eat them all in one sitting.

Despite very hot and very dry weather (please send us your rain!), the garden is doing its best to keep us fed. The tomatoes, which got too much rain at the beginning of summer and now haven’t gotten hardly any at all, are just beginning to roll in. These orange Sungolds are best eaten warm right off the vine.

Each year is hit or miss with me for beets. I either get seven thimble sized beets, or 100 hefty chonkers. There is no in between! Lucky for me, it’s a good year. Look at these golden beauties!

This weekend will be nothing but honey processing, which I am absolutely dreading. For one thing: it’s a toss up whether my bee suit will fit. For another: Two 90-degree days spent in a metal garage wearing two layers of clothes is NOT a pregnant lady’s idea of a good time. It’s a good thing the end product is so delicious, because boy is honey a lot of hot, sticky work!

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Here’s What I Loved This Week

I love this big, brave dog who was rendered a puddle of terror by fireworks. Poor thing has had a really rough 2-weeks (it’s the rural south, the fireworks start in late June and just keep going), but I think our neighbors have finally burned up the last of their stashes. I know she’s going to love, care, and protect our son like he was her very own pup—unless there are fireworks, then she’ll be under the bed.