carrots anyone?

Carrots grown in our garden. India was on the phone on Monday when she came in saying she had picked the carrots. Now, my first reaction was OH NO!!! Dad's going to get your goat for picking them too early, but her determination never ceases to amaze me. She promised they were ready for picking, but she didn't bring them in. She washed them off outside and left them there until Jason came home. I peeked outside and they looked ok. I certainly didn't want her to get fussed at for picking them too soon - not that Jason ever REALLY fusses at them, it isn't in his nature, but I was mostly worried he would be disappointed if they weren't ready, but they obviously were. They are gorgeous. They are from anywhere between 6 and 8 inches long and they taste so good! The best carrots we've ever had. I love that India and Kalib both are so into the food we grow, especially as we move towards growing more and more. It is one of the most rewarding things I can think of. Going out into the garden and bringing in vegetables grown through our hard work and it is even more rewarding when the kids are excited about it and can't stay out of the refrigerator because they want just one more carrot. How awesome is that?

We are about to plow a big part of the field in front of the house to really expand our garden and grow some serious vegetables. We are going through our catalogs and picking the vegetables we want to grow which is always fun and we'll be starting our seeds as soon as they get here in hopes of early cucumbers and tomatoes and cantaloupes and musk melons... oh my gosh, just thinking about it all makes my mouth water. We are also going to be planting some more carrots and we are going to give celery a try because my girl loves celery and there will be some red peppers for Hazel thrown in there and we will be sending some cucumbers Stella's way because she was helping me decide which ones we wanted last night since she loves them! I really can't wait until we have food to share with our friends and food to save for the winter. The more I think about it all the more excited I get. I know it is going to be a tremendous amount of work, but becoming more and more self-sustaining appeals to me - not to mention if we are able to save food for winter, imagine how much money we will save and how much better the food will taste to us knowing it came from our hard work! The kids are excited about it all too. India is great at starting seeds and growing lettuce and Kalib can't get enough of tearing up stumps and digging holes. Talk about some serious homeschooling!