I would, in my dream world, grow enough vegetables in our garden during the summertime to last us through the winter: frozen, canned, dried, preserved summer goodness. But besides not having any storage space in the house, I have to keep it real, and sow only what I know I can tend. That's work enough for this gardener: work I absolutely love, but hard work nonetheless, and I know I couldn't manage more.
But how I adore that "pop" sound of a jar filled with summer life, when we open it in wintertime! I do, in fact, always make jam - one year fig, the next peach, the following apricot - depending on what fruits are available. My kids only eat homemade jam, and find the store-bought kind too sugary, not fruity enough. In fact, that "pop" sound also makes me happy because I know that my kids have learned to appreciate the taste of healthier home-grown, homemade foods. Besides jam, each summer I also put up a few surprise bumper crops. Last summer it was green beans and strawberries.
I thawed the last of the strawberries this weekend (here), and made a large torta: a wintertime torta with strawberries harvested on a hot August day.
