Pickled Green Beans

Among the bounty collected at The Farm was a bag full of gorgeous green beans. Inspired by this recipe (passed along by a garden muse with a great attitude and a serious pocketknife), the boys and I got to work to create our own summer treat.

The first jar was opened this morning on our beach blanket. Deliciously crisp and tart! Cheers!

Summer Pickled Green Beans

2 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed

4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced lengthwise

8 sprigs fresh dill

4 jalapenos, sliced lengthwise and de-seeded

4 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 cups white vinegar

2 1/2 cups water

Snip green beans and cut to fit inside pint-sized canning jars. (We like the wide-mouthed kind for this treat--better suited for little hands.) Place green beans in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender but still firm, for 2-3 minutes. Plunge beans into ice water. Drain well. Sterilize four jars. Place 1 clove garlic (sliced lengthwise), 2 sprigs of dill, and one jalapeno (sliced lengthwise and de-seeded), into each hot and sterile jar, against the glass. Pack the beans into the jars and add 1 teaspoon of salt to each. In a large saucepan over high heat, bring vinegar and water to a boil. Pour over beans. Fit the jars with lids and rings and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Enjoy!

Welcoming Summer (Thank You, Tortoise)

Papa turned 37 last week, and his birthday wish remained the same as it has for years: a long weekend surrounded by beauty and family on his grandmother's South Georgia land. Each morning, we would wake, stretch, breathe, and explore. The morning glories marked our way through trees and trails, opening brilliantly toward the sun. It seems I'm not the only one that is thankful beyond belief that summer is here, and with it, God willing, a slower pace. The simple act of opening up and reaching toward the sun creates such beauty and stillness. We are truly given everything we need.

On our first morning ride, we found a nice big patch of wild blackberries, and breakfasted there for quite a while. We revisited the patch every day. We are truly given everything we need.

So much beauty and bounty, ripe for the picking. The same was true in Grandma's garden. Peaches from the tree, squash from the vine. We are truly given everything we need.

Big B, little b, and their Georgia cousins celebrated the summer sun by collecting objects of beauty and creating Solar Prints. They all marveled at the speed with which the sun created the shadows, the shapes of the leaves, and what happened when the paper met the water. We are truly given everything we need.

With summer comes water, and the boys (including Papa) drank their fill. Every day held fishing of some kind, whether by boat or on shore. And when the sun became a bit too overbearing, the water welcomed them in. We are truly given everything we need.

Over the last few years, I have become a believer--or rather a conscientious observer--of animal spirit guidance. When animals cross my path repeatedly, all I have to do is pay attention and listen, and their meanings bring me clarity. During this trip, we must have seen a dozen tortoises, mostly gopher, on our rides. Sure, the heat of summer brings them out, but we've been there every Memorial Day for the last few years, and I have never seen more than two or three. The tortoise's message was crystal clear to me, as we release the fast pace of school schedules and bedtime routines and open our arms to easy summer days: Slow down. Look upward to the sun. We are truly given everything we need.

On Gardening with Children

I have the joy of being one of the 'room moms' for Big B's first grade eco-gardening project. On the south face of the first grade building, they have been given a 10'x50' plot of land to learn one of the oldest, most forgotten, yet most important lessons of life: how to grow their own food. Through the generosity of several local business partners (a landscape supply company, a landscape architect, a native plant nursery and an organic farm), our garden has two plots for each of the eight first grade classrooms, with one herb or vegetables for every two kids. There are tomatoes, crookneck squash, cucumbers, collard greens, kale, spinach, lettuces, basil, lemon balm, parsley and more.

The children have been involved with every step of the process, from learning about the soil that was put down to planting and watering and now to weeding and caring for the little seedlings.
Big B and his garden-mate have a little collard plant to care for. They are so proud of it, and every morning when we walk by on our way to class, Big B checks diligently on his plant.
A few of us parents are taking turns watering the garden twice a day, and once every week or so, we step into the classroom and take out the children in their pairs, to check on the progress of their little seedlings. My friend and fellow garden mama made charts for the kids to measure the height, number of leaves, fruit and flowers, and presence of bugs on their plants at each visit.

"Teaching children about the natural world

should be seen as one of the most

important events in their lives."

-Thomas Berry