Thoughts on the garden/homestead

     I just came back inside from working on our garden. Neither it, nor I, are a pretty sight right now. In late May I had re-injured my left hip and while most of the plants were large enough to handle it, the weeds went on a growing spree while I was healing. We started planting outside back in March and have been working on succession plantings and crop rotation. Because of how fast it turned hot this year, we are harvesting weeks before anticipated. This has helped with our homesteading goals for the year.
      Braving the heat, I've spent the last two days pulling up black bean and cow pea plants. The beans are already dried out and ready to pick. We spent yesterday evening watching an older sci-fi series (Seaquest) and shelling beans. So romantic! Looks like tonight will be the same thing. I was like a toddler in a toy store though, running my fingers through the near full bowl of black beans. It blows me away that we have been able to grow so much of our own food out of five 4x10 raised beds!
     I love learning how to preserve what we have grown and tonight will hopefully trying out the new pressure canner. Last year we froze all of the tomato sauce I made. Last week I froze several large batches. The big basket I use to collect them is full again so it's time for more sauce making. This time I'm going to try properly canning it. I've done a series of foods that just need a water bath process (peaches, apple butter, pickled beets) with complete success. Hopefully, this will be just as successful. Wish me luck!

Welcome to Morgan's Mania

     I'll start out with being honest. This isn't exactly what I had in mind when deciding to start a new blog. Previously, I ran one for Ryan's PKU Foundation of Virgina and it wasn't much of a success. What I hope to eventually do is have a series of blogs set up for the various things I want to write about. In the meantime, this is going to be a true "mania." You'll never know what is in store and I will be jumping from topic to topic. I promise, though, to make each on a separate entry.

    What will you be seeing here on Morgan's Mania? That is a good question. Most likely there will be posts on homesteading, gardening, the adventures of being owned by a handful of critters and about living with and being married to an adult with PKU. There is also bound to be posts on Compassion International covering the amazing work they do as well as stories from my two beautiful sponsored daughters. Of course there will be posts related to the online gaming world I have been part of these last few years. Hm...what else? Oh and since I'm in the middle of publishing my first novel, it is a safe bet that some comments will be made there too.

    So, pull up a chair, sit back and enjoy the ride. I know it will be a wild one!