Processing Gleaning Efforts/Distractions from Neighbor Kitten

My hubby has been doing a gleaning job for the past week nearly everyday, on top of his regular part-time job.  Gleaning is basically clearing the fields of leftover harvest/plants at the end of the season.  He is working for people that sell some produce at their produce stand on their property, as well as selling produce at the Farmer's Market.  My hubby has been able to take home some of the produce.  The local food bank also comes out to glean and take produce.

I decided that today is a good day to process the gleaned produce, as the house was smelling very onion-y from the onions and leeks.  Here are some "before" pics of the produce:

The hubby had left some of it outside, so I brought it in to process and inspect all of it.  While I was outside, Neighbor Kitten looked so cute playing with some of the fallen kale leaves that I put the dogs out and let it come inside for a bit.

Don't get me wrong, I love my dogs, but I really miss the company of a kitten.  It's been 7 years since my cat ran away (he didn't like kids).  Cats really do provide things that dogs can't.  I really missed having a kitten sit on me and purr.  My dogs are 8 years old and 50 - 60 pounds each.  They're not exactly lap dogs, although they think they are sometimes.

Neighbor Kitten helped/hindered my efforts, but it was entertaining enough that it was worth it.  I really hate calling it "it," but I haven't bothered to find out its sex.  I forgot to take some pics of Kitten on the table "helping me."  I didn't even let my cat on the table, I must have really had kitten withdrawal this morning.  Kitten helped itself to some spilled dog food, but don't tell the dogs, lol.

To start out processing the produce, I cut the greens off of a couple beets and gave them to the guinea pigs. They'll gladly help out by eating excess veggies :)  I managed to fit the rest in the produce bin in the fridge, although it is now 90% beets.

The hubby cut off the most desirable parts of the leeks.

Here is what we were left with:

Some ugly (but delicious) potatoes

Squash galore:

I had to toss about a box full of unusable produce/parts.  I managed to salvage 3/4 boxes full, though!  I'm kinda picky when it comes to what produce I'm willing to pay for.  When it comes to free freggies, though, my standards are pretty lax.  The onions were too far gone, so I couldn't salvage any.  However, I will put them in the compost pile and we'll have wild onions next year!  Most of what I tossed was moldy and decaying.

I gotta admit, I miss having a cat something fierce.

I was thinking about talking to my neighbors about adopting this one.  Their kids dyed it blue, as you can see, so I don't think they'd miss it much.

I snapped out of this, however, when Neighbor Kitten took too much of an interest in my guinea pigs!

With having 2 large dogs, the guineas are pretty used to having larger animals take notice of them.  My 2 older guineas, Cleo and Coco, lived with a cat in the house with their first family.  Coco was especially skiddish of the kitten, so she may have had a bad experience with the cat at her first house.

Cleo is the most brave/mellow in regards to other animals.  However, even she had had enough of Kitten when it leaped inside their cage.

Cleo screamed for help, so it was time for Kitten to go home.  I just picked it up and put it back out on the porch.  I know that I need to protect the pets that I already have, but it was a little heartbreaking to hear Neighbor Kitten meowing outside the door.

Thanks for reading!

 - Vanessa