autumn changes

autumn is finally here & with it brings much welcomed busyness & big changes. ornamental cabbage & mums are decorating our yard in pots & perennial beds. pansies are added to fresh greens from the garden.

beans, kale, turnips, sugar snaps & radishes are bursting in our raised beds.

& we have even added a flock to our home! eight sweet ladies all with their own unique personalities. happy birthday to our one week old pretties!

meet violet. she's a buff orpington with such a calm soul. she'll fall asleep in your hand & perch on your finger as you put her down with the others.

i just adore these big autumn changes!

an autumn walk

i thought another walk was in order.
quite a bit has changed since then.

Signs of autumn

mornings are cool and dewy again, optimistic, orange and red marigolds nestled with pink zinnias and gomphrena, the mint trails with one last blooming, the delicata squash have all been harvested, the last of the green beans are picked, we are beginning to gather the first leaves of arugula, spinach, and radishes from the fall garden, peppers are abundant, green tomatoes hang on the vine and we wonder if they will ripen, ash seeds cover the stairs, a few yellow leaves fall, squirrels busily bury walnuts, windows are open and the skies are bright blue, night arrives at 7:30.

nearing the end

Not too much happening in my garden these days. We've got Red Russian kale and collards (a second planting) that are going strong. Those prolific Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes and Mexican Sour Gherkins, still as prolific as ever. Our husk cherries are in a race with the frost. We were spared recently but for how long?

I like the end of the season. Not too much to worry about other than the harvest. There's the surprise of a final dahlia bloom, going outside to pick greens for dinner, the pure joy of cooking with your own produce in late September and possibly even into October. And if the frost comes, the knowledge that I'm just fine with fried green tomatoes or green tomato pickles.

Our harvest hasn't been a good one for preserving. We just didn't have the quantity this year. Lucky for us, we have friends who are also gardeners, and we've been gifted a store of carrots and tomatillos (for salsa verde, which I hope to can this weekend). Nothing beats walking down to the basement and pulling out a jar of homemade salsa verde to serve with chips in the winter. If you're wondering I like the recipe from Canning For a New Generation by Liana Krissoff.

A few standout recipes we've made lately:

creamed kale
ginger roasted carrots with miso dressing

How about your own gardens? What's still going strong? Do you enjoy the end of the gardening season?

home preserving workshop

this week i am preparing for a home preserving & canning workshop that i will teach this saturday in northwest arkansas. ozark folkways is an incredible little place that focuses on most skills forgotten in this age of consumerism & quick fixes. i cannot wait to get all of the students together for a morning of preserving apple butter.

the photo above shows my kitchen table in its current state- little scribbles of to do lists & ideas for the big day. i finally perfected my recipe & i am looking forward to sharing it. i hope to make the kitchen a cozy little space for working, jamming & canning. the students will take home a jar of their own jam & a bag filled with supplies for decorating their jars for the holidays. (i wish you all, each & everyone of you, could be there).

i also plan to pass out a packet of information on my favorite blogs, books & publications.

here are just a few sources i dig:
- putting by
- put 'em up!
- canning for a new generation
- the latest issue of natural home & garden

i must ask- please do share any tips, blogs, books, publications that you find helpful in preserving & canning. i'd love to add them to my growing list of resources! thank you!

herbal tea, from the garden

 

 

as fall arrives, and the cold air makes its way into our bones, i find myself turning to a pot of tea in the evenings to warm myself up.  here is one of my favorite herbal tea recipes, that can be made almost entirely from things you might grow in your garden or find around your neighborhood:

1 part peppermint
2 parts lemon balm
2 parts red clover
2 parts nettle

not only is this a deliciously tasty combination, but has many medicinal properties to keep you healthy through this transition of seasons.  Peppermint helps with digestion and eases nausea and stomach cramps.  Lemon Balm also helps soothe the stomach, as well as helping with insomnia.  Red Clover is really good for respiratory problems, such as colds coughs and bronchitis, it is also high in calcium and iron.  Nettle is pretty much the super herb; it is high in many vitamin and mineral and helps with a variety of health issues, from the reproductive system, to metabolism, to the liver.

this year i grew lemon balm and peppermint in my garden, and i foraged almost a half a gallon of red clover from around the neighborhood.  i purchase my nettle in bulk at our local food co-op, and I'm pretty sure you could find it (and any of these herbs) at most health food stores, or at Mountain Rose Herbs.

do you have any favorite herbal recipes from your garden?

weekend plans

our fall schedule is a busy one.

it has been days since i have had time to take a picture in the garden.
and today it was pouring buckets which didn't allow for much of a photo post today.

i did however manage to clean and de-clutter the pantry this week
to make room for some canned goods in the works such as applesauce and tomatoes.

i found an old crock at the thrift today and we plan on making some sauerkraut
this weekend from the cabbage that we have begun to get in our CSA share.

a pot of farm beets and carrots have been chopped up to make borscht.

and loads of swiss chard is waiting to be frozen.

speaking of canning and preserving have you seen this great site?

what are your garden/pantry/kitchen plans for the weekend?