Bottling, Bottling & More Bottling
October 1st - October 20th

This is what the beets in our garden looked like on the 3rd of October. October 3rd also happened to be Dad Higginson's 63rd birthday, so I decided to put up some beets as a present for him. That might sound odd, but Higginsons have a tradition of giving food as birthday presents. I knew Dad liked beets, and since he never has them during the winter, then why not bottle some for him?
Some of the beets in our garden decided to grow below ground, and other above, like the one to the left.



It took a lot of coaxing, but Vaughn agreed to help me pull up the beets, and I finally got them in the house, washed, and prepared for bottling. This was our second and last crop of beets, so I was very excited to get them finished. I wanted to get as much bottling out of the way as possible before winter set in. So here are our beets from largest to smallest.


Here is a picture of the biggest beet from our second crop. I love doing comparison photos like this. It helps me to remember what I get out of all the work I put into gardening and bottling!





And here's our biggest beet compared to our smallest beet. It's funny how some grow to be big enough to feed a family of ten, and others only bite-sized. I had enough beets to put up 10 quarts that day. I was grateful to get it done!




Later that evening we all went over to Mom and Dad Higginson's to celebrate Dad's birthday. We had a great time! Julie gave Dad a really nice triple-layered fudge-filled cake that looked DELICIOUS!



I wondered how Dad would like the beets, seeing as nobody really gives vegetables to anybody for their birthday. But he was really pleased, and it made me feel so happy! I really like this picture of the two of us!













The next day Mom Higginson and I decided to get together to put up tomatoes. I have some very nice neighbors that offered me their tomatoes because they just had too many. I think they planted about 20 tomato plants. They're nuts! So Mom Higginson and I went over and picked what was left from the frost the night before. There were actually quite a few tomatoes under the plants that were perfectly ripened and not frozen from the frost.








I love this picture of me and Mom Higginson because it looks like she's either getting ready to discipline me, or she's giving me a talking to. She is really fun to bottle with. We always have great conversations, and Vaughn of course loves to be over at Grandma and Grandpa's house. There is a lot more room for him to play, and much more interesting toys and people! We wound up finishing 30 quarts of tomatoes that day! I also tried something new....I put vinegar in with the tomatoes instead of lemon juice. Mom said that the vinegar adds a much better flavor to the tomatoes, so I decided to try it!

Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th of October was General Conference. That is when the leaders of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, gather together and give two days of talks to church members. It is a time Brian and I look forward to every year, twice a year, since the Conference is held in April and October. On Saturday evening there was a meeting for men, and since Brian was at that meeting, Vaughn and I had a mother-son date! (The women's meeting was held a few weeks prior). I took Vaughn to Arby's since he LOVES curly fries! (I also happen to love them too. How convenient!) He likes to play with them before eating them. He concentrates as he pulls each one apart and watches the rings separate. It is so cute to watch!!! If you'll notice there is also a giant glob of fry sauce. Vaughn cannot eat his fries without something to dip them in. He has always liked dipping his food into sauces for some reason. But it's adorable to watch him delicately dip the fry into the sauce, and dip it two or three times to make sure it's covered correctly, before he will eat it!

I asked the ladies sitting right next to us to take a picture of me and Vaughn. I think Vaughn was a little embarrassed, because he would not look at the camera to save his life! So we had to take a candid shot. The ladies were really nice and made sure to give Vaughn an extra nice goodbye when they left. I love going out to lunch or dinner with Vaughn on a date. It is something we almost never do which makes it really special. It's also so fun for me to just spend time with him, enjoy some food, and talk to him. He brings me so much joy!

The next morning I awoke before Brian and Vaughn. I had slept out on the couch because it helps me when I have back problems. I walked in to our bedroom to find Brian under the blankets and Vaughn sleeping on top of him! It was TOO CUTE! Vaughn loves to sleep next to his daddy.


Later that evening after Conference had ended, we went over to Brian's parents house for dinner. I brought two of the watermelons from our garden to share with them, if they were ripe enough. Our watermelons hadn't really grown well this year. When we opened them, they were almost white inside, nowhere near ripe. But they looked pretty nice on the outside! I guess you can't win every time!

Later on that week, I received a call from a nice older later up the street. She told me she had a few Concord grapes in her back yard and wondered if I wanted them. I was ecstatic! Concord grape juice is liquid gold to me! I went over and picked all she had, which wasn't a ton, but enough for two batches of juice. I was so grateful, because I can mix one quart of the Concord juice with one quart of the white grape juice, and it still tastes like Concord grape juice. That makes the Concord juice stretch a LOT farther.

That week I also was able to get a few pink grapes from another lady up the street. The juice was pink, but the pulp was green! If you look in this picture to the right, you can see the pink juice, the green pulp and juice (which I save for Grandpa Kuhni), some of the tomatoes Mom Higginson and I put up, some beets I put up, and then some tomato juice I also did that week. My next-door neighbor had a lot of tomatoes that were going to go bad, so I just juiced them. Brian's sister Amy gave me a recipe using the juice to make tomato soup, and it is SO GOOD! You probably won't believe it, but it had chili powder and seasoning salt in it. It really is so good you can just drink it!

Over the weekend of the 13th and 14th, Brian took Vaughn up to Boise, Idaho with him to see his brother and sister-in-law and their kids off since they were leaving for a dental mission to Tonga! I wasn't able to go because I wasn't feeling very well, and I was so grateful to Brian for taking Vaughn so I could rest that weekend. I guess you could say that there can be too much of a good thing...even bottling! I was very grateful when they returned safely. It had been the first time I had even been away from Vaughn overnight, and for a few nights in a row. It was the weirdest feeling! I even felt a little guilty, but I knew it was totally normal, especially for a stay-at-home mother! But Brian and Vaughn both survived, and I know it was a great experience for the both of them as well!

And here's one for the road...

(I found Brian and Vaughn like this asleep on the couch. How cute it that?!?!)

Love, Lisa