Our annual Fall rituals have begun. Firewood is being moved out of the elements and stored in its designated shed, and we continue to prep food to be stored in the pantry. As I type, apples are being dehydrated for future uses. Our home smells delicious.

The attached image shows the wood I have brought from the back of the shed to the front. It’s rare that we burn every stick of wood in a season, so every few years I rearrange the wood ricks so older wood is used up. True this is extra work, however, with this lifestyle no gym membership is needed.

This year’s garden is abundantly providing for our family, neighbors and the community garden. I’m not sure if the compost nutrients have kicked in, the seeds we started were exceptional or watering from the pond instead of rural water is the benefit, but this year’s plants have overgrown their spaces and spread into, and over, each other.

For several years now, a family friend has arranged for blueberries to be shipped to her mid-Missouri home. A few weeks ahead of time, she contacts friends and takes our orders. The berries arrive at the peak of ripeness in 10 pound boxes. Blueberries delivered in this way are incredibly easy to process and store.

Don and I prefer to snack on the blueberries as the year goes by. Just pour a few berries in a container to thaw. Home-made muffins are good as well. And they are my go-to medicine should I feel a sickness coming on.

The easy steps for storing our immune-boosting blueberries are… Rinse the berries and spread them on a towel to dry. I personally like to do a lot of taste testing during this step. Place dry berries, in a single layer, on a sheet pan, and place the pan in the freezer until the berries are completely frozen. Transfer the frozen berries into long term storage containers or plastic freezer bags. Then back into the freezer until we are ready to enjoy.

Thank you, Shelby, for coordinating the blueberry delivery. This is all part of our yearly food storage plan.

This year I’m trying a different way of starting our garden plants. My usual way, for years, has been dumping a trowel full of starter into a small pot and poking the plant seed in. As a result, some to the soil runs out the bottom of the pot when watered. This isn’t a big deal. That soil collects in the starter trays and is brushed out, into the garden, after all the transplanting is complete. This year though, I put used coffee filters, grounds and all, into the bottom of my starter pots. Excess water drains out, but the soil stays in. To take the idea further, I’m hoping to get the plants out of the pots by gently pulling them out by the coffee filter edges – potentially disrupting the soil and root system less during transplant.

This year’s garden got ahead of me. That’s a good problem to have though. Extra produce gives us an opportunity to share and visit with neighbors. Just drive the road and knock on doors.

Days are hot here in mid-Missouri, but at night I can sit outside, watch the stars come out and regroup. I do what I do because its important to me.