Bean and berry bounty

Today's task was to pick all the bush beans and DO something with them! WAY too many to eat fresh; don't have a pressure canner; don't like frozen. What to do? Well, the most logical thing was to revisit the third option to see if there is a way to freeze beans that doesn't leave them unappetizingly tough or rubbery. And even if the resulting texture isn't my favorite for eating as a side dish, I should still be able to utilize them in minestrone and other soups and casseroles.

This morning was grey and cool, the perfect weather to pick produce. I picked our two rows of bush beans while Rick and Brian picked berries.

Once picked (along with some odds and ends, I set about processing the beans. When I washed them, they turned the water blue! I don't remember this happening before, although we've long grown the purple bush beans (they're easier to see to pick). Maybe I've just rinsed them in a colander before. Made me wonder if they could possibly be used as a natural dye - not that I'd waste food to find out....

I filled one gallon bag to bursting, and have two more partial bags in the freezer. (I separated the smaller, tender beans from the biggies). Rick added to the berry bounty rapidly filling the "new" secondhand upright freezer. The raspberries, especially, have done very well this year.

This afternoon I chopped some stray thistles that escaped the first two assaults. They are starting to bloom and I certainly didn't want them going to seed.

I also changed coats on two of the sheep; Browning (above) needed a size F and Bramble (below) needed a size E. Browning is getting more iset; his fleece feels very nice. Bramble's fleece really excites me, though; I love its beautiful color, texture (disorganized crimp and spring), luster, length, density and softness. She seemed to get the best fleece attributes of both her parents, Inky and Franjean; I wonder what she'll produce with Barish!

Wonderfully clean fleece is the best part of coating sheep, but getting to "peek under the covers" occasionally is like getting to open a present over and over again - I love it!

That's it for today from . . .