Pickled beans, at last

Last summer, while on maternity leave, I found myself with nothing to do (aside from caring for an infant) and a garden overflowing with green beans. I got a recipe from a friend for pickled beans and decided to give it a shot. I worked while Walter napped and when I tasted those pickled beans, I was thrilled! Not only were they delicious, but I had actually, successfully, accomplished something other than showering or feeding a baby. You really can be a mom and do other things at the same time! It sounds so silly now, but those first few weeks of life with Walter were so much different than I thought they would be. 

This summer, I planted beans, of course. But I also planted hot peppers and dill, in anticipation of pickling beans again. Unfortunately, the bunnies hopped right over my garden fence and ate every single bean I planted. So Nate put up a taller fence and I replanted. And those darn bunnies hopped over the fence again and ate every single bean sprout out there. So Nate put up an even taller fence and I re-replanted. This time the bunnies stayed away, but my beans were about a month behind. Just before we left for vacation I was finally able to pick beans from my garden. The first thing I did when we got home was pickle those beans. And they are yummy!

On a semi-related note, we've been teaching Walter animal sounds.

A cow says, "Moo."

A pig says, "Oink."

A duck says, "Quack."

A bunny says, "Mmmm! These beans are delicious!"