Bradley Brights

This year I have been so grateful for our yard. It has provided so many good things for us to eat. I grew up hearing stories about the beautiful gardens and fruit trees that grow here in Utah. I feel so blessed to have been a part of that experience this summer and fall. Our garden provided many delicious meals. It was the first time a garden had been planted in our yard but I think it still produced a wonderful amount of food for us. There's nothing more satisfying than eating food strait from your own land.

When we moved in we were also excited to know about four fruit trees in our yard. We knew we had an apple tree, two plum tress and a pear tree, but we had no idea how well they would produce. Boy, were we surprised! We ate delicious plums all of August. Our apple tree produced bushels and bushels of tart, crisp Granny Smith apples. We've made apple crisp, apple pie, apple shakes and apple pancakes. We even combined our apples with Mom and Grandma Bradley's golden delicious apples to make apple sauce and apple pie filling. We ended up with 49 quarts of apple sauce and something like 52 quarts of apple pie filling. The combination of my tart apples and their sweet apples is so inviting. The apple pie filling is so yummy as a topping on pumpkin pancakes and the apple sauce is great in oatmeal or just by it's self. Our pear tree didn't do so well, but it's the youngest of the trees, so we'll wait a few years and see what happens.

Then, just last week when my visiting teachers found out I wasn't going to be doing anything with my grapes this year, (I had no idea where to even start) they came and picked them to make grape juice with. They brought me over a jar and it is a beautiful royal purple. I'm not sure I want to open it.

Our Heavenly Father has provided a remarkable world for us. I am so thankful He has blessed us with so many delicious things for us to eat, especially during this season of thanksgiving. I can't wait for next year!