July 2023 Recap

                              July 2023 recap for our farm family

July was a typical month for us meaning nothing overly exciting. Life around here is pretty chill during the Summer months. The kids enjoy playing outside and on the hot days, downstairs in the cool basement. 

We had a fun time at our County Fair! The kids aren't in 4-H this year but we did enter some items into the open class building. The two older kids took pictures in and they both one 1st place ribbons! I enjoy trying out for a lot of the baking contests. I entered the cookie baking contest and the yeast bread contest. It's so fun to go in later to see if you have won any prizes! I also entered a few other open class projects. It's more for enjoyment than the actual competition. I would encourage anyone who enjoys the fair and a friendly competition to enter a few of the contests or open class projects! Get outside your comfort zone and try something new. Sometimes I think we try so hard to be perfect that it makes us nervous to try new things for fear of failure or embarrassment. Sometimes it's better to not take ourselves too seriously and just enjoy life!

I have been doing all sorts of new homemaking things this Summer. So far it has been a success! I received a sourdough starter from a good friend and have finally been able to figure out sourdough bread, yay!! I've planted a few medicinal herbs for salves and things. So far my Calendula flowers have grown well and I have been able to get enough dried to steep in oil for eventual salves and chapsticks. I have also been looking into native herbs that I have always thought of as weeds but the benefits are incredible! I think it is amazing what God has made for us to utilize.

Canning!! My first year pressure canning and all by myself! At first I thought it would be yikes but once I read the book and did a few practice runs without jars I felt more confident. I will say the first real canning run was a little scary, I was hoping the canning lid wouldn't burst open and blow a hole through my ceiling haha. If you have ever been too nervous to try pressure canning let me assure you, if I can do it you can too!

That's that recap for July but I do have a yummy and garden fresh recipe that I love and would love to share with you! You will need:

2 cucumbers

1 to 2 tomatoes depending on size and how much you like tomatoes 

Equal part water and apple cider vinegar 

1 to 2 Tablespoons sugar

A little salt and pepper to taste 

Mix it all together and let it set or enjoy immediately! It will help you use up some of that yummy garden produce that may or may not be coming out your ears.

Thanks for reading and see you in September!