Getting caught up in the garden and reaping the yields

 We are really getting caught up with the weeding and tilling in our garden.  My husband Joe is on a three-day work week at the factory right now so he is using this extra time at home to help the garden to look better.
    Daughter Elizabeth, 14, also had a few days home from detasseling. She is good at doing a lot of weeding in the garden, so her help is appreciated.  Joe dug up the rest of our potato crop which gave us a really good yield this year.   We have potatoes weighing 1 .5 pounds each.   It was a good year for potatoes, they did very well this year.
    We are seeing empty spots in the garden where the potatoes, onions, and sweet corn are out for the season.  We still have two more patches of sweet corn coming along.  Some of my corn didn't do as well as I would have liked.  I think it has something to do with the storm flattening it that one day earlier this summer although most of it stood back up.  It must have stunted the growth of the cobs as they were very small.  Mornings these days are a bit chilly with temperatures in the mid-50s at daybreak.  The boys and Lovina went outside to play and came back in asking for jackets saying it was cold outside.
    I am sure it was a cool morning for Elizabeth and all the detasslers walking wet cornfields until it dries up.  Elizabeth is looking forward to getting her new bike which she has on layaway. She is paying on it with her detasseling money.  It'll be a much better bike than the one she is used to.   She keeps teasing her Dad about how she'll be able to pass him with her new bike. 
    I have some fabric here that I want to sew into new curtains for some of the windows.  I have some used up ones now but they are very worn out.  Our house has more than 30 windows and I have not managed to get new ones on all of them yet.
    I also need to sew the boys new pants for the upcoming school term.  We will have church services in three weeks and I can't see that I will get to the pants before that.  I think school will probably start the week following our church services.  I'll probably hold off on the pants and wait until school has started and I will be able to concentrate better at the sewing machine. It will be a relief to know that the house will have been all cleaned for church.
    It seems the boys are so much harder on clothes than the girls are.  We hope to get the cleaning done in the upstairs bedrooms today.  Everything will have to have another light cleaning yet before church services.  If we get that accomplished we want to start washing walls and ceilings on the main floor this week.   It takes so much time cleaning out closets and cabinets but it is nice to have everything all organized again.  It sure is surprising when I go through the clothes in the children's closets how many they have outgrown. 
    Two-year-old Kevin weighs only a 1/ 2 pound more than 4-year-old Lovina and they are really close in length so it is good that they do not wear the same clothes.  Kevin will be three already in a few weeks.  These years are flying by way too fast.  I must get back to my work so until next week, God Bless.  I have my peaches to can on my schedule for the week ahead. Try this recipe for your fresh peaches

PEACH STREUDLE
6 or 8 fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
1 1 /2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 /2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1teaspoon ground cinnamon.
    Layer peaches in greased square 8" inch baking dish.  Sprinkle cinnamon and half cup sugar over fruit.   In a separate bowl, sift flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.  Mix in egg until crumbly.   Spread  mixture over peaches and bake over 350 for one hour or until crust is brown.  Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
 
    Editor's Note: A video tour of Lovina's garden, with it's bountiful harvest, is available for viewing this week at amishcookonline.com.   A video of zucchini fritters being prepared in Lovina's kitchen and a corn detasseling in the Eicher garden will also be available at amishcookonline.com.