Pepper Place Farmers Market

I am a huge fan of farmer's markets, craft shows, and agricultural festivals. If I had my druthers I would travel the country attending them and hiking all around the areas we visited. But, I also love having a place to call home; plus the idea of 11 people in a small home on wheels just doesn't sound appealing, lol. Even though we don't spend our days traveling full time, we do enjoy visiting many different farmer's markets, craft shows, and agricultural festivals within driving distance of where we live. This past week we visited Pepper Place Farmer's Market located in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Pepper Place Farmer's Market is nestled in an urban setting and TONS of people flock here to buy locally farmed produce and fun homemade wares. It's August in Alabama folks ~ the heat has been intense and the 100 degree day didn't seem to deter folks from coming out to enjoy the outdoor market.

Live music just seems fitting for an outdoor market. This couple were amazingly talented in their musical abilities, singing a wide range of music including several different instruments. We listened to them perform as we downed a few dozen fresh baked donut holes from a local bakery who had set up a booth peddling their amazing pastries. 

While Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks are great, sampling the brews of small-town mom and pop coffee shops is so much fun, especially when they are authentic to roasting and grinding their own coffee beans. The Red Cat Coffee House had a booth set up as well as a brick and mortar shop conveniently located along the route of the outdoor market. 

The flowers were in full bloom at Pepper Place this particular Saturday. I have never seen so many beautiful bouquets! Absolutely gorgeous flowers! And if I wasn't such a penny pincher, I would have loved to bring home a bunch of lovely flowers to decorate our dining room table. 

One of the most awesome things about visiting such venues, is the variety of creative and fun items made and sold by folks for all walks of life, including the furry little friends in our lives. These folks had set up a booth selling gourmet doggy treats that looked just as tasty as some of the human food showcased at the market. Even though we didn't purchase anything from this particular vender, I'm assuming from the long lines, that the cute pooches loved the delicacies their beloved owners were buying for them.  

While we really didn't buy anything during our adventure to the Pepper Place Farmers market, we did enjoy some fresh bake goodies and coffee which were all wonderful. Sometimes the adventure isn't really for buying things, but just for the fun of experiencing the local culture and enjoying family time. 

A huge reason I enjoy attending places such is this, is that they're full of family-run business whether it be from farming, baking, handmade items, or the like ~ it's products made or grown by good old fashion American hands. It's such a blessing to find such items not in a major chain store, which seems to have taken over our country. I truly wish we'd have a back-to-basic revolution in our purchasing power, but I know it's highly unlikely. And hey, even I'm forced to buy from the local box chains since we don't even have many family-run stores where we live. But, like many of you I'm sure you'd be more apt to buy from local farms and artisans if it was more readily available (and affordable). Until then, I suppose our family will do the best we can to live simply and support American made products and wares when we can.

If you're ever in the Birmingham, Alabama area I highly recommend a visit to the Pepper Place Farmer's Market. I can assure you, if you're a fan of homemade and homegrown products, you'll not be disappointed. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Back to School Hike at Lake Howard

If you hang around this blog for any length of time you'll quickly catch on that I LOVE traditions. I absolutely love planning for them and looking forward to them coming around each year. One of our back to homeschool traditions is to go on a celebratory hike concluding our first week. For many years we went to Mount Cheaha State Park. But after they upped the entrance fee from $10 a car load to $8 PER PERSON we quit going there. 

On a trip back from the beach three years ago I discovered Lake Howard. Which happens to be an amazing off-the-beaten path boating and hiking destination. It's actually a dirt bike trail, but plenty of folks hike there and in three years of hiking at Lake Howard, I've only seen one person riding a bike on the trail. It takes about an hour to get there from where we currently live, but since it's free, it's totally worth it to me!

I think it's so fun to take the same pictures year after year and watch our family grow. This particular hike was just me and the eight younger children as my husband and oldest had to work.

I must be honest half my children do not enjoy hiking. But, they typically admit to having fun after we venture into the woods. I always have at least one kiddo who is thrilled to be on the hike. You know that one who wants to walk right beside me, volunteer for a dozen pictures and even slips their hand into mine as we hike along the trail. It really makes all the extra work, dragging eight children out the house and into the woods totally worth it!

I'm a huge proponent of baby wearing. There's so many styles to choose from these days, that it's super easy to find a brand and style the suits your needs. My favorite is the Beco Baby Carrier. I've worn my current carrier with four different babies to great extents.  It was worth every penny and then some. I couldn't do half the stuff I do with a baby in tow without a baby carrier, especially hiking. My bigger boys and my husband have even worn this baby carrier. And I've yet to have a baby that didn't love riding on my back (or front).

The Lake Howard trails are wonderfully maintained and accurately marked ~ which is not always the case with many of  the trails we've been on over the years. Of course, my children love to venture off the path for a little exploring, but even then the brush is adequately cleared. 

I must give a disclaimer though in regards to the Lake Howard trails, on a scale of 1-10 (one being the easiest and 10 being the hardest), I'd rank them at around a 7. This would especially be in regards to the main trail. There are some intense inclines that might be difficult for some folks to navigate. 

That being said, my three year old does walk the trails on his own. But my crew, as you can tell, pretty much grow up hiking and quickly get acclimated to the rigors of intense trails. I try not to make a big deal about it and just encourage them when they start struggling. But there have been times when a big brother or sister has helped piggy-back ride a little one at difficult parts of our hiking adventures. 

When we are  hiking I usually will set my cell phone timer for a minimum of 30 minutes. After 30 minutes I reevaluate how everyone is coping on the trails and if we're doing okay we keep on walking, if not we turn back around. I do try to be mindful that the little ones will have to make it back out, lol. At Lake Howard it takes us about 40 minutes to reach where the main trail forks. So, that is always our goal for this particular hiking adventure. 

If it were up to me, I could go hiking at least once a week, but that is highly impractical under our current family dynamics (and  I wouldn't change those for anything). Which is why I'm extra grateful for the times when we do make it into the woods to enjoy God's creation. Being in nature helps me to regroup and refocus my energy. For some reason when we're hiking I seem to forget all the worries of life and I can just breathe, feeling truly at peace. So while it does take an act of congress to get us to these little hiking adventures of ours, they are so very worth the hassle to me. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Soap Making Fun

As a self proclaimed wannabe homesteader there's a whole lot of fun 'back-to-basics' projects I enjoy doing. One of them happens to be making cold processed lye soap. I've been making soap for many years, it was actually one of the first homesteading skills I learned to do. The funny thing is, I've never veered from making my plain old fashion soap recipe. I never add anything fancy to it like dyes, essential oils, or oats. I just prefer the plain old classic, unadulterated lye soap recipe to all the others ~  and besides it works, so why mess with it??

I know a lot of folks freak out over making lye soap, but it's really not that difficult or as hazardous as most people make it out to be. I mean if you've ever used bleach or any basic store-bought cleaner you've dealt with a potentially hazardous chemical in your home ~ and lived to tell about it. As long as you use safe handling measures, you should be perfectly fine. I always keep white vinegar out on the counter ready to use in the event we have a spill with the lye, because the white vinegar will neutralize the lye.

When I'm making my soap, I try to make sure the little ones are occupied just to be on the safe side. Which is no different than when I'm cleaning or using bleach. But, I do like to encourage my bigger kiddos to help me make the soap. I'm extremely passionate about my children learning the art of dying homesteading skills. Thankfully, my children typically enjoy making the soap. 😊

Learning what 'trace' looks like can be one of the hardest soap making steps to master, but once you get it, you get it. When I'm looking for trace, to me, the soap resembles the consistency of pudding. I've always used my electric stick blender to help speed up the process to get us to trace. And yes that would be the same eclectic stick blender I use for canning and making baby food. I thoroughly clean the stick blender after making soap and then we're good to go for it's next use, regardless if it's for food or another soap making day.

I've used an assortment of different soap molds throughout the years, but my favorite are silicone molds and my wooden block molds that my dad made me. When I am making soap in the summer, the heat and humidity tend to make it super difficult for the soap to get hard. Since the soap doesn't harden so well it can be quite troublesome to remove it from the silicone molds no matter how much I grease them.

My wooden block soap molds are my favorite molds. I never have to worry about the soap not being hard enough to get a decent block of soap. And I happen to think it's a classic look for soap, lol. The only notable thing about using my wooden block soap mold is that the soap never turns as white as my silicone molds. I'm sure it has to do with the heat distribution during the curing process, but my soap in the wooden block molds are always more opaque than white.

I'd exclusively use my block molds, but my children prefer the silicone molds over my block soap mold. It all works out though, because my soap recipe makes just enough for me to use one large block soap mold and a couple silicone molds. I always let the children pick out which silicone molds they want to use. And just a little frugal side note: all of my silicone molds have either been given to me or bought on deep clearance after holidays. None of them are traditional soap molds, but all were intended for baking. Since our family is the only one who uses the soap, the odd soap shapes don't bother us, lol.

Making soap is not really a modern necessity, but it is a fun skill to learn. To be perfectly honest it's probably more expensive to make the homemade soap than to just buy it from the store. But, that's ok for me. I happen to like the fact that I know all the ingredients in the soap I make. I like doing old-fashion activities that help tie me to those authentic homesteaders from days gone by. But mostly, I enjoy spending time with my children teaching them life skills that their ancestors did as a way of life.

Over the years our homesteading efforts have ebbed and flowed depending on mine and my husbands external responsibilities. In the grand scheme of things I think we'd both like to live a permanent homesteading lifestyle, but it just isn't where the Lord has us right now. This summer has been super tough on our family with maintaining our huge garden, canning, my husband's job, and the basic demands of life. We're constantly reevaluating is this lifestyle where God wants us to be, and how much time, money, and energy should we invest in pursuing this not-so-easy lifestyle.

Thankfully, the many life-skills we have acquired as a family over the years will never be for naught; even if the Lord closes this door for our family. (I'm not saying He is) I have cherished every minute spent learning along-side my husband and children. I believe this no-frills, simple life, is the best life to promote family unity as well as instill in children a strong and honest work ethic. So while soap making day may seem like just another useless modern day, expensive activity to some; for us it's a prime outlet to teach valuable life lessons, refine another homesteading skill, but mostly, an opportunity to enjoy being together as a family. And my dear friends, I don't think it can get much better than that. 💗

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

Adventures at Turkey Creek Nature Preserve

This week we had to take our three year old for his bimonthly craniopathic chiropractic adjustment. Since it's on the other side of the big city (typically over an hour away) I always try to plan an outing with the kiddos. We've explored much of the greater Birmingham, Alabama area in the realm of free nature explorations and even some that were not so free; so I've had to broaden our circle of travel destinations. It doesn't help that a huge chunk of downtown Birmingham is under major road reconstruction including massive detours, which means some major navigating finessing for this non-geographically inclined ol' girl, lol.

While searching for a new place to explore, I came across Turkey Creek Nature Preserve which is about 30 minutes outside of Birmingham via the interstate. Unfortunately, that part of the interstate is closed so to get there you have to travel highways and backroads, doubling how long it takes to reach the preserve. I had planned to go the last time we went to my sons appointment, but then realized (at his appointment) it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, argh. So I went ahead and scheduled his next appointment for a Wednesday so we could finally head out to explore Turkey Creek Nature Preserve despite it being further away than I would prefer.

Well, folks we finally made it to Turkey Creek Nature Preserve and it did not disappoint! It was a super neat, donation only, outdoor place to explore. There was some amazing watering holes to swim in and there were even folks tubing. We ended up hiking along the creek which to me was more of a river, but hey if they want to call it a creek so be it. The trail was not really maintained well, but I did see plenty of trails that appeared to be better maintained when we were driving through the preserve.

I was quite impressed with my children's ability to scramble over the rocky terrain. There was only a couple incidents where my kiddos slipped and fell. Which I found to be a miracle because the rocks along the creek were covered in slippery algae. Thankfully, they were all good sports and even disappointed when we had to turn around on the trail due to a fallen tree.

I prefer exploring nature spots that aren't so heavily populated; that was not the case with Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. There were people everywhere! We passed a good many folks on the trail as well as dozens swimming/tubing in the creek. It's not that I'm anti-people, but it takes a lot for my children to decompress and actually immerse themselves in God's creation. I love to see them truly become one with nature and be intentional with their time 'outside the box'.  I'm not saying they didn't enjoy themselves, but all the people around were definitely a distraction.

Several of my children were severely crushed that we didn't bring our swimsuits and floats. I must admit it would have been nice to cool off from the intense heat and humidity, but with the long drive I just didn't think it would be wise to add 'exploring the watering hole' to our itinerary. Perhaps I should have planned differently, but now we just have all the more reason to go back.

Part of the adventure for me is getting to take dozens of pictures ~ my kids typically know this is just part of the trip, but I didn't get too many pictures during this outing. Sadly, even one of my pictures was accidentally deleted, which happened to be the only one I captured of my 16 year old {{sigh}} Sometimes that's just the way things happen, unfortunately. I know life isn't about the pictures, but it helps me to remember those special little memories that mean so much to me. Much of life is hard and not so pretty so when we're in the beauty of God's creation I want to savor it for everything it's worth and my pictures help me do that in a long term fashion.

Yes men can (and do) wear babies 😍

Yes, we're the crazy parents who take eight children into the woods for an adventure, because you know 'every-day life' isn't adventure enough, lol!!

Hiking with children is not an easy feat especially when you've got a large family with lots of little ones, but I never regret the effort when we go exploring nature. I spent many years making excuses why not to go hiking, boy am I glad I quit making excuses. Hiking is one of my most loved past times as a child and while many of my children are not big fans of hiking, they usually admit to having a good time once I drag them out there.

Sometimes doing the not-so-easy thing doesn't reap massive rewards but the subtle ones do exist ~ even if you have to look a tad bit harder to see them. Besides, we all know a little change of scenery is good for regrouping and refocusing. Our midweek adventure certainly helped to break up our rough start back to homeschooling. I'm beyond grateful we had the much needed distraction and that the Lord brought us to visit Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. It was definitely worth the extra drive and energy to experience it with my family.

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

Surviving the First Week of Homeschool

We have officially kicked off our 2019-2020 homeschool year! Despite my lack of enthusiasm for my 15th year of homeschooling, I am thrilled with all the hope and promise of what a new school year brings. While we do consider ourselves year-round homeschoolers; we make a point to follow along with the rest of the populous when it comes to our official beginning and ending homeschool dates. 

This year we are starting a little earlier than normal because we have plans to have an extended Christmas holiday, and I prefer making up that time now verses at the end of the year. It's been super hard to begin school so early for a myriad of reasons, but I know in the end I will be thanking myself, lol. 

Yes, we still have gardening stuff going on, but we made a command decision to fit those needs in around our homeschooling. No, it isn't ideal but we're making it work. As of right now I still have pumpkins and tomatoes to can, but every day it's looking like the pumpkins are not going to get processed. Admitting you can't do it all stinks, but once you recognize it at least you can move on. 

Our homeschooling dynamics are kind of crazy this year and overwhelming to say the least. I have six children in official grades and two in preschool. I know many are not in favor of traditional preschool programs, but I like to do it, and more importantly I find that my children enjoy doing their own 'school work' at very young ages. Not to mention it gives a solid foot in the door for academics and knowledge that they're going to need eventually. 

Even though I've got a lot on my plate with teaching so many ages, I'm confident this it is going to be a great school year. I'm writing this post two days into our first week of school and it's been a rocky adjustment. Not so much in the realm of homeschooling, but in all the other issues of life that have vied for my attention during our school time. 

We only took a month off from our traditional homeschool program to focus on the garden, but apparently it was enough to cause upheaval in our normal homeschool flow. Which is why I am beyond thankful I implemented a few key elements to help ease us into the new homeschool year. I'm all about doing whatever it takes to create the best opportunity for us to have an mazing first week of school (even when I knew we'd have some hiccups along the way!). Here's a list of what I did to help our family survive the first week of school.

1. Plan, Organize, & Delegate: This first step may seem like a no-brainer, but really it's not. The more prepared you are the more likely your first week (and the rest of your homeschool year) will be a success. For folks who buy a 'box kit curriculum' this can be super easy as most of them come with lesson plans. But, for those of us who combine curriculum and add our own variations this can be an arduous task. Trust me you will THANK yourself in the long run if you don't neglect this step. Of course organizing your books, resources and supplies is essential too. Make sure if you can't purchase everything up front, that you at least make a list of the items you will need as the year progresses so that you can purchase them accordingly. And finally plan to delegate. This would include making sure all family members are involved with the cleaning, cooking, and any other family needs you may have. For me this meant refining our chore charts, meal helper schedule, laundry assistant schedule, and our 'sibling buddy' system. Let's face it you can't do it all, but you can enlist the help of others (even your children) to better enable you to accomplish your homeschool goals.
2. Keep Your Expectations in Check: I'm not here to burst anyone's bubble, but it's highly unlikely your first week of school is going to be perfect. After all there are so many new and unfamiliar facets to a new school year, that expecting them to go off without a hitch is setting yourself up for disappointment. I'm not saying have a bad attitude or even expect the worse, what I am saying is expect there to be learning curves and meltdowns from everyone and everything including your brand new curriculum. If all does goes well and there are no problems than celebrate friend, because that is an awesome victory!! But, on the flip side, when those likely set backs come ~ don't consider yourself a failure or doubt your decision to homeschool, simply work through the issues and remember it will get better and easier with each day.
3. Create a Simple, Low Key Lesson Plan For The First Week: There is absolutely, positively, no reason to overload yourself or your children the first week of school. Ease back into the homeschool life. Enjoy the process. Plan for some fun-schooling and plenty of opportunities for creative learning. Maybe don't do all the subjects every day or only do half a lesson each day of each subject. Cut yourself some slack, you've got a whole year to get all your academic requirements in, and taking a week to take things slow isn't going to effect the end results.
4. Don't Compare Yourself or Your Children to Others: This is a toughie for me. I mean it's so hard not to compare myself to all those awesome homeschooling mamas out there who have it going on ~ Lord only knows I'm the epitome of a hot mess in every area of my life, especially homeschooling. I have to continuously remind myself not to compare myself and my children to others throughout the entire year. One of the main reasons we homeschool is to allow our children to go at their own pace and for us not to be in bondage to any one academic program. The first of the year can be super hard for children, especially if they've had any amount of summer break. Children have a tendency to forget quite a bit over breaks from academics. But, don't worry, within a couple of weeks they usually bounce back to pretty close where you left them at the end of the previous school year. 
5. Schedule a Celebration Event Concluding the First Week: Completing the first week of school is huge and should be celebrated.You and your children have accomplished something amazing! Your family celebration can be as simple as a family movie night, a special dinner with dessert, or it can be as extravagant as you want it to be. How you talk-up your first week of school celebration will make all the difference. Your children will appreciate the little token of love and appreciation. For our family it varies every year but we ALWAYS take a back to school hike and have a special dinner and dessert to celebrate our first week of school. Even though our family knows our first week of school is going to be a challenge; we all look froward to our mini celebration of all our hard work in getting back into the swing of homeschooling.

**BONUS TIP** Meal Prep for the week: It is no secret that I am a huge plan of meal prepping. When I have the freezer space I am all about once-a-month cooking. Planning to meal prep so that you do not have to worry about cooking the first week of school is like giving yourself an extra special gift each day of the week. It may take a little upfront investment of your time, but ultimately it will lighten your load on a very stressful week. If it isn't plausible for you to meal prep in advance of the week, make a point to plan super easy meals, including quick breakfasts and simple lunches. No need to stress about food and the first week of homeschool. 

I wish I could make everyone's first week of homeschool perfect and without any struggles, but I can't. I can assure you each day does get easier and before you know it you will be half way through another school year. Remember to breathe and take each day as it comes. Don't worry about tomorrow or stress over yesterday. Each and every one of you homeschooling mamas is AWESOME. You are doing a great job even when you don't think you are. God is creating a beautiful tapestry through your homeschooling efforts and you are only privy to the tangled mess of strands on the back side; but I assure you, He can see the front side and you will not be disappointed when you reach the end of your homeschool journey. You've got this friends!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer 

Raw Confessions of A Homeschool Mom

We are kicking off our 15th year of homeschooling.  I can't believe we've been doing this for that long. In some ways it seems like we just started and in other ways it seems like it's been an eternity.

I must admit that my original reasons for homeschooling were not for religious convictions ~ as they are now (Lord knows if it weren't, I'd have thrown in the towel a long time ago!). The reason I began homeschooling was for two main concerns #1 I really didn't think five years old or six years old for that matter were old enough to be away from the nurturing love and 'safety net' of a mother AND #2 the negative influences from the non-parented students to the anti-christian environment that makes up our current public school systems. Those reasons alone are enough to make my stomach church and spur me to do whatever it takes to keep my children away from such entities.

Despite my current laundry list of reasons as to why I homeschool now, there are days (okay if I was being truthful ~ weeks, maybe even months) where I do not want to homeschool anymore. I have zero desire to do it. My heart simply isn't into it, and I would do anything to put my kids in any school system so long as their education wasn't solely resting on my shoulders. Sometimes the truth can be harsh and not-so-pretty, but that's just where I'm at these days.

When folks are touting all the awesomeness of homeschooling they have a tendency to leave out the nitty gritty details that homeschooling isn't always so glamorous. Sometimes, it downright stinks. There are some days when the non-stop character training (i.e. disciplining), refereeing, and pleading with children to just sit still and finish the one assignment put in front of them (that should have only taken 10 minutes to complete ~ but has droned on into hours) is enough to drive Mother Teresa to have a nervous breakdown. And when those awful no-good days become the norm ~ homeschooling just doesn't seem so appealing anymore.

If you have been homeschooling for any length of time and haven't had a rut of bad homeschool days ~ congratulations (I rejoice with you!!), but I have a feeling most of you have been there and many of you may find yourselves dreading the up and coming homeschool year. Trust me friend you are NOT alone! I have been there and this year has been one of those years. Even though I went through the motions of planning and prepping for our 2019-2020 homeschool year; I also spent and exorbitant amount of time researching a local private christian school. {{sigh}}

YEP, I am that mom. I won't lie or sugar coat it. I'm feeling the homeschool burn-out, and my desire to homeschool just isn't where it needs to be. But, I know there's really no other option for us and in my heart of hearts I do want my children to be at home and I really do love homeschooling. What really has me teetering on the edge of insanity is all the other stress that distracts from our homeschooling. Like the non-stop disciplining, appointments, external family drama, cooking, cleaning, you know.....life. And to add to my homeschool struggles; this year I'm officially teaching SIX grades plus two in preschool. To say I'm stretched thin, is putting it mildly!

I'm really not complaining. I know I have a great life. I know without a shadow of a doubt I am 100% called to this perfectly imperfect messy homeschool life. But, I want to be real. I want to share my trials as well as my triumphs. I want all you struggling homeschool mamas to know YOU are validated and it's okay to not have it all together, to not really be sold out to homeschooling (all the time), and that the only reason you keep on keeping on boils down to the simple fact that you KNOW you're called by God to homeschool.

I'm here to let you know YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We are in this together and we can do this. Even if the journey isn't as pretty as we thought it was going to be WE can finish the race God has set before us.

The never-ending, ever-draining, unappreciated task of educating children from home is certainly not for the faint of heart. The huge task cannot be undertaken without the strength and wisdom of the Lord. There's nothing like an emotionally draining day of child training coupled with trying to impart some sort of knowledge onto ungrateful children to bring you to your knees, broken before the Lord. When we feel like we cannot go another inch, correct another child, clean another mess, or teach another lesson; He can. 

I'm not telling you that if you follow a serries of suggestions it's going to magically fix your homeschooling woes and restore your love affair with wth the art of homeschooling. Sheesh, sometimes wading through the muck and mire of the homeschool trenches can drag on and on with no easy fix, and that's okay. Don't think you're failing because homeschooling isn't easy. There will be times (even extended seasons) where it's really hard; but I know for a fact that if you're truly called to homeschool, God will sort the details out and carry you through.

One day all our hard work will be rewarded, even if it isn't on this side of heaven. I've learned over the years that answering the call and being obedient to The Lords commands doesn't always reap instant rewards. When it comes to homeschooling, I'm afraid for the most part, us mama's are storing up treasures in heaven. It will only be when we meet the Heavenly Father and hear those beautiful words: "Well done my good and faithful servant," that we will truly grasp the extent of what we did through the strength, love, grace, and mercy of The Lord. It will be in that moment where we will finally understand why we were one of the few called by God to educate our children at home.

Here's to putting one foot in front of the other and doing the best we can to make this an awesome homeschool year ~ we got this my dear sweet friends. 💗

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

Pea Shelling

Mississippi Pink Eye Purple Hull Peas or as I have affectionately coined them "dirt peas" is the topic of the day here at Country Mama to Many. When living in the south you quickly come to recognize that these little delicacies are a prized favorite for most southerners. It took me many years to acquire a palette for them and I still have to 'doctor' them up a good bit before I can eat them. But, I'm assuming the reason folks like them so much, is that they are super easy to grow down here in the high heat, humidity, and dry soil. 

We've tried growing an assortment of other beans and peas, but we always revert back to these. When you're trying to fill your larder it just makes sense to fill it with the produce you can easily grow. The little ones typically like to pick and shell our peas, and hey, if they find it fun, then why not encourage their interests. After all it's back breaking labor to be hunched over picking 'mile-long' rows of field peas ~ the younger children don't have to bend over quite as far as us grown folks, lol.

Typically my kiddos enjoy watching a movie or a television show while shelling peas. While I'm not a huge fan of television, it makes the useless activity a little more appealing when I know they're being constructive with their time instead of just completely vegging out in front of the T.V. Shelling peas is NOT hard, but when you're picking them by the five gallon buckets, any way to get them shelled as quickly as possible works for me. 

It takes quite a bit of peas to fill a quart jar, which is what I use in meals to feed our family. Since peas have to be pressure canned and they take a little while to process, we fill freezer quart bags with peas and place in the freezer until we have enough to make it worth our time to can them. I do not blanche the peas before freezing. And if we happen to run out of our already canned peas, the frozen peas can be thrown into the crockpot in the morning and turn out just as delicious as if we canned them. But, I do prefer the canned peas which can quickly be thrown into a pot, heated, and ready to serve in just a few minutes. 

 Pressure canning isn't really all that hard, but it is a time consuming process. I know many folks are intimidated by using a pressure canner, but we've never had any problems other than a busted jar here or there. I have two pressure canners and have had to replace two throughout my 15 (plus) years of canning. I've never spent a whole lot on canners, just bought the cheapie Presto Pressure Canners (bought my first one at Walmart) and they've worked just fine to meet our needs. Some homesteading purchases are worth investing in the high dollar models while others not so much. Thankfully, we've been able to successfully use our Presto Canners to fill our larder year after year.

I once heard a saying that said "Get what you can and can what you get". Part of homesteading and more importantly growing your own food journey is learning to acquire a taste for the foods that readily grows in your region. It may take some time to get used to them, but trust me you do. Or at least I've made a point to learn to like a plethora of food I never liked before we began this homesteading adventure. I figure if God placed me in this region, gave me a heart for this lifestyle, and the ability to grow/harvest/preserve such food; than I can graciously eat the food He provides. Ultimately, in this life, all things circle back to the Good Lord and trusting Him for our provisions in every aspect of our lives; even in the basic aspect of the food we grow and cannot grow. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer