Jess was stacking beans in the freezer the other night when I had to dash out for a camera. There’s nothing quite like a full freezer (or three) to boost your sense of security. Of course our root cellar is somewhat depleted, but it’s fall time and we’re working on that. Since we’re always eating …

Adam and Jen posted a note Sunday at church: Help! Come pick beans and I’ll give you half of what you pick! So on Monday evening, we went. Their garden must be half an acre in size. String beans, corn, tomatoes, and I don’t know what all. The beans apparently came on too late for …

Okay, here’s what Jessica canned last week: 91 quarts of nectarines45 pints of salsa33 quarts of diced tomatoes30 quarts of tomato soup11 pints of nectarine jamWith help from the kids of course. Natalie ties on her apron in the midst of the chaos. Middle left you see our satellite-dish-sized bowl with the latest batch of …

So we took the kids out behind the Church on Friday and picked apples. The branches were loaded down and the neighbor said they were ripe, but I’m having my doubts. Anyway, Katie, Abby and (temporarily) Natalie got up in the tree and threw apples down (not at the rest of us, of course); Jess …

Jess found strawberries for six bucks a flat the other day, and brought home four flats. Yes, they’re from a factory farm somewhere in the western hemisphere; yes, they were probably genetically designed to withstand nuclear bombs while still retaining a remote taste of strawberries. But our strawberry bed is not up to this level …

Let’s talk about budgeting. This is one of the cornerstones of self-reliance, because to control your life you have to control your resources, of which money is (unfortunately) an essential part. We are in the process of learning to control our money, instead of our money controlling us. We are not perfect at this. But …