This Week in the Hollow No. 2- “Grow Your Own”

“This Week in the Hollow” is a weekly series sharing glimpses of the adventures from our simple life in the hollow.

Welcome to another “This Week in the Hollow” post! I am glad that you are here. It has been such a productive summer in a lot of ways and quite an adventure for our family. We have been continuing to slowly move forward and discovering our new normal. The more opportunities and memories we are able to partake in, the more manageable the healing process has been. This little miss has been a huge part of this mama’s healing these past 5 months. Her middle name fits her perfectly because she brings so much JOY into our family.

She is always so eager to be by my side and be my little helper. She follows me around when I am in the garden and when I am checking on the chickens. She will be a well-rounded woman some day and I pray that she will learn how to walk in spirit and in truth and continue to bless others, all the days of her life.

I had planted 3 hydrangea bushes last Fall and wasn’t quite sure how they would do in the hollow. I was pleasantly surprised that they are all doing well and even starting to blossom beautiful heads. Hydrangeas have been a love of mine for years, even before the littles were born. We had planted a bush in our upstate NY bungalow home when our son was little and before we had to move for the military again, the bush and flower heads had gotten so BIG. They were the purple and blue colored variety. They make me smile as I reminisce of those happy times when our little fella was still healthy and strong.

As you can see, the vegetable garden is starting to produce and I already have more English cucumbers than I know what to do with. Hahaha! I plan on pickling some, although I am not sure how they will do. I didn’t even realize that I was planting another variety until they started to grow. I actually thought there was something wrong with them at first. (smile) I really need to be more mindful of which seeds I am planting and where. There is always room for improvement and growth in the hollow. (wink)

We have already enjoyed some of these yummy zucchini. I like eating them raw, like our cucumbers, but I think I will be trying some new zucchini bread recipes and share my favorite here on the blog.

I love okra and all the health benefits they offer. I made the mistake of letting last year’s grow too long and they became so tough that a lot of it was wasted. I made sure that I didn’t make the same mistake twice and we have enjoyed these babies already in our ground beef gumbo. Okra helps regulate blood sugar levels, is an immune booster and helps support skin and vision health. Food is medicine and I love to offer a variety of diverse nutrient dense foods to my family. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be mundane, boring or bland! God gave us our five senses for a reason, so I say, “Enjoy them!”

These bell peppers look just as good as store bought, but better because I know the farmer, well! (smile)

First year that my carrots took. I will thoroughly enjoy these!

Fig tree

It wouldn’t be summer without some homegrown watermelons…

And delicious cantaloupe!

Our baby chicks that we got from 4H Club, are no longer babies. They have grown so much and have acclimated nicely to their new home in the chicken barnyard and coop. We’ll see how our “accidental rooster”, Sunny does as he gets bigger. Hoping he doesn’t try to get unruly with the hierarchy of Dominique roosters, Big Red and Little Red. (smile) For now, I am just thankful that they are all playing nice!

I love this old black walnut tree and often wonder just how old it is. If it could talk, I wonder what kind of stories it would tell. Was it here when the first pioneers settled these parts? It is so strong and healthy! It is even more massive in person.

I love the saying, “more hands make work light!” You will hear me reference it a lot because it is so true! Especially when you have a large family and a semi-large homestead. Everyone has to pitch in or the system fails. (sob) I am so thankful to have the help of our littles in the hollow. I came home one day and saw that our 12 year old had learned how to use my husband’s zero turn riding lawn mower. That is huge and you could tell how exciting it was!

This has been one of the most memorable summers in a long time. Just trying to soak it all in! It has been a great season for teaching and training new life skills, nuturing friendships, making memories, and building godly character which you can say is always on our bucket list of priorities to do. What’s on your bucket list this summer?

Until next time, remember to ENJOY the journey!