Writing in the Mountains

The title almost sounds like a weather forecast. Ha!

Sorry for the bad humor. Now for the blog.











I want to apologize for not getting the photos and story to all of you waiting on the blackberry jam. I didn't realize I wasn't ready for canning on Sunday, so I opted to put this off until later this week. Stay tuned for the update.


This afternoon; however, I harvested more garden veggies for a summertime feast. I gathered a mess of beans and began stringing and breaking them to soak for dinner.










Winnie didn't think much of the whole 'stringing the green beans' process.






I slow cooked the green beans in fat bacon with baby red potatoes and corn on the cob. Dinner also consisted of pork roast and cornbread.




To top it all off, I definitely needed to use some of the berries we picked on Sunday, so it was blackberry cobbler and french vanilla ice cream for dessert. Yum!

After dinner, Kent headed for the sofa and I went back to the kitchen to start the process for freezing our abundance of tomatoes.

I finished up with the apples on Sunday, but our tomato plants are reproducing like rabbits this year. (Not that I'm complaining.) They are loving this Southwest Virginia soil. If they keep it up, we have decided to introduce them to our local farmer's market this coming Saturday. It's held here in our hometown of Big Stone Gap, VA. This is their first year working the market and it's slowly proving to be very productive for our area.

Local farms and farmers have been struggling and so I definitely want to get the word out about the importance of farmland protection for local food. With the new farm bill for the state of Virginia; it is a start to turn things around, but I am also cheering for a new "No Farms No Food" campaign spearheaded by the American Farmland Trust. You can find the link to their website under "I support" on the right side of my blog or by clicking on the American Farmland Trust link provided above.

I know how much all of you love finding fresh produce at the supermarket. Please know that you can make a difference by getting involved.

I've filled the last freezer bag of tomatoes and it's time to call it a night. Until next time...