It’s hard not to feel how abundant life can be, even in these tough times.  These last couple of weeks have been consumed with canning, dehydrating and of course garden maintenance.   The cucumber vines are coming to an end with the heat, and due to my inexperience with giving them proper climbing structures.  The lemon cucumbers however are thriving in their location, climb very well and are not very heavy, although abundant with fruit.  The flavor is nice & clean and I am certain I’ll be planting these again next year and perhaps in my greenhouse!

Ripe Lemon Cucumbers are BEAUTIFUL!

I’ve decided to help my friend open a weekday Farmer’s Market here in Newport and that adds quite a bit to my plate, but I’m VERY excited to do it.   Cocke County Farm & Garden is where I get all my animal feed and raw grains and I couldn’t possibly think of a better location to have a small weekday market and fall time weekend market!  I’m happily preparing baked goods and home canned items to offer at that market along with fresh produce!

The mixed Australorps have hatched, along with a couple of the potential Olive Eggers.  I got a large percentage of blues, which is just what I prayed for.  Now if I can have a mix of boys and girls from those blues, I would dare say the poultry gods were smiling down upon me. 😉

I have MUCH to get done today, I bought pounds of apples from our local orchard, Carver’s is only down the street a few minutes from me, and I have juicing, jelling and many jars of jam & pie filling ahead of me.  I have produce to pick and a market to get ready for, as well as a few signs to paint from some simple plywood to help out the Newport Market.  I have updated as much of the website as time allows this week, both mine & the Farmer’s Market site, so I will leave you with a few more shots of the ‘farm so you can enjoy them too!

Yellow Pear Tomatoes