So, my garden is still on attack mode. That thing is crazy! Between the last two times that I actually gathered the collected harvest up for processing, I had 282 cucumbers and about two 5-gallon bucket loads of Chinese Noodle Beans, maybe more.
I know that part of our goal as a family is to grow more of our own food, but this was completely unexpected.
This was the pile last week. 180 Cucumbers and a heaping mound of Noodle Beans.
That turned into 28 quart jars and 24 pints, pickled and ready for winter.
Then I had this pile to deal with, and those sinks are not shallow.
That’s another 102 Cucumbers after we’d been eating them fresh and giving them away!
This crazy pile of Chinese Noodle Beans had to be dealt with too. Even all six of us can’t handle that many raw.
I pickled up 4 quarts of them and filled 4 large freezer bags with chopped Noodle Beans.
Obviously, our goal of growing more of our own food is working. It’s working really well, like, a lot. For us, it is just one piece of the puzzle of life. Food is a necessity, and the more necessities we can take care of ourselves, the less we will have to buy. I’d rather raise some animals, plant some trees, and do some gardening with my family to supply our food needs than leave them all day to earn $ money $ to spend on food.
Back in Wisconsin, I’d always planted some Cucumbers, but I never got that great of a return on them. I’d get a lot of Pepper and Tomatillos and other produce, but not so much when it came to Cucumbers. This year, in Arkansas, I planted quite a few seeds, and then we were given some plants too. For the most part, all of them produced really well, hence the insane harvest.
When it comes to Chinese Noodle Beans, I’d never grown any before. We’d grow Green Beans, both bush and pole varieties, and we’ve harvested plenty of them, but never a Noodle Bean. Not only are these incredible producers, each one Noodle Bean is equivalent to 3 or 4 Green Beans, as far as size and weight are concerned. That adds up and multiplies very quickly.
As we continue on this adventure and press on towards our goal, such skills and investments of time will be all the more necessary for us. Too often I have bought cucumbers from the store only to have them mold and rot in some corner of the refrigerator. Things like that never help.
Since we’ve still got some more Cucumbers coming in, I’ll be starting an experimental series early this week on trying some new (to us anyway) uses for those age-old Cucumbers. Stay tuned, and thanks for joining us on this adventure! - @papa-pepper
