I am - absolutely - exhausted. And I have given up on a few things - one being people.
By 7:15am yesterday morning - I was out in my garden - thinning out green bean plants - harvesting them before humming them over the fence.
I had to quit at 1:15pm - to go in and rest a few minutes - before starting supper - ( I cheated - we had breakfast for supper and he went out for lunch last night ) and getting Hubby off to work.
Six ( 6 ) hours. And this was only one of several days like this.
I had not had any breakfast. I’d only had a half cup of coffee. The only thing I had stopped long enough to put inside my body - Pineapple Orange Banana juice with lots of ice. The only break I took - was to go get a kitchen towel to soak down and carry around my neck for helping to - somewhat - cool me down.
By then - I had thinned out all the plants - watered the rows deeply - harvested one row of the bushes remaining. And the bathtub was filled with - fifteen ( 15 ) gallons of green beans.
Once I got Hubby off to work - at 4:30pm - I started in. I got 37 packages of green beans done - by 2am this morning.
Ten ( 10 ) hours. All by myself.
We now have a total of 86 packages of green beans in the freezer. We still have tomatoes - corn - peppers - and a few other veggies coming.
There are - still - green beans sitting in the bathtub. There are - still - two rows of bushes that I have not harvested.
And the freezer is plum full. What in ‘ Green Bean Hell ’ do we do now?
Hubby had the answer this morning when he got home from work.
Since WalMart is taking so long to get our pressure canner to the Lenoir City store - we’re going to pull the remaining plants - and burn them.
We have chicks to pick up this week. And this round of days off will not pass without the purchase of a good - used - upright freezer.
At this very moment - there are - at the very least - another 15 gallons of green beans out there.
For over a year now - I’ve tried offering to let folks from work come up here and get involved in growing food to take home - learning a few things - saving some money.
I will be damned - if I’m gonna kill myself - doing all this by myself - except for when my husband ends up losing his days off to helping me - paying for the materials - labor - and utilities - while somebody sits on their ass and expects me to send my husband to work to hand it over to them - for free.
No more Mrs. Nice Guy.
If I were about thirty years younger - I’d harvest it all up and take it to a shelter - or - foot pantry. I might have the energy. And God knows - I’d love to be able to do that.
But - not - for human beings younger than me - and just as physically capable.
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3 comments:
"What in the Green Bean Hell" is the best quote I've heard in awhile. Thanks for the morning giggle!
I understand, though...we planted two 30' rows last year and I thought they would kill me. This year, if I pressure can any beans, I'll only do raw pack. My kitchen isn't set up for hot pack (learned the hard way...and my hubby was lucky he wasn't home or he would have heard some really colorful language that day!).
How did you end up processing your plethora of beans, by the way? Vacuum seal and freeze? Something else?
Take a big, long break...you deserve it!
Yes, we did use the vaccuum seal and freeze. Hopefully, we'll be able to can them next year. Somehow, I get the feeling that task may end up being much easier. LOL
Oh well I can't say I blame you, especially when you have offered to help others learn, and no one will take you up on it.
Thankfully I'll never be in "green bean hell" if I have any thing to say about it, since neither I or DH likes them! LOL Once you get those goats, they will probably be glad to help you clean up whatever you don't want out of your garden! :)
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