The signs are everywhere. The sumacs are reddening, and we today gave out all of the tomatoes without any left to ripen for the weekend market. The unpredictable cracks and bangs of the acorn bombardments have become regular enough to be nothing startling, no matter which metal roof or drum they fall upon. We tore out almost 100 feet of blighted cherry tomato plants, and all of the melon plants. We close the high tunnel well before sunset, hoping to capture some heat so the tomatoes and sweet potatoes can develop a bit more. (Hmm, look at all the tomatoes in that paragraph – well, this week is the end of the Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes Season, after all.)
We feel good about how the growing season turned around. Spring was a bit brutal, but Summer turned out wonderfully, and Fall is looking set for more of the same. Hard to believe there are only three CSA boxes to go! The the party, the field clean-up, moving this winter’s woodpile, cutting the firewood for 2023, ordering next year’s seeds, the new baby … and then it’ll be Spring again and next year’s crops will be going into the ground!
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. For now, it’s Now, and Now is beautiful autumn, and it finally rained, and we haven’t even closed the bedroom windows at night yet, let alone started the wood stove. A proper September feels like this, suspended timelessly between summer and fall, the sunlight golden at any hour. We’re grateful for everyone who makes possible our lives here, doing this, being here, Now.
I never imagined I’d be married to a farmer, living off the grid, raising sons and growing food in the woods of Wisconsin. But I can’t imagine life any other way being so sweet, feeling so meant to be, so rewarding. Even through this year’s turmoil of drought and doom and with the uncertainties of the future writ large, I’ve never once doubted that this life here on Que Sehra Farm is my Best of All Possible Worlds. So thanks for eating with us.
… and that, Now, means this:
inside Box 15
- Tomatoes – lovely beasts. Kristin turned a bunch of the orange ones into a Bloody Mary Mix that looks like sunshine and tastes like it too. I’m not that into bloody marys, but I’d drink this plain by the glass. I guess we’ll call it “Sunny Mary Mix” maybe? Anyway, you just get plain tomatoes, so I’m rambling.
- Cabbage – Kristin tried to twist all the cabbages around in the field last night to prevent them from cracking, once we realized that the rain was really going to hit us for once (we got an inch!). It mostly worked! Saurkraut or cole slaw? Pan-sear slabs of it? Roast it or grill it? People do all kinds of things with a cabbage. Damn they’re tasty; get creative or play it safe, you are unlikely to go wrong any which way.
- Red & Green Head Lettuce – salad season returns! We keep hearing people talk about wilted lettuce salad, but we don’t know much about it. Do you?
- Orange & Yellow Carrots – If you eat them all you will be able to see in the dark. Perhaps. A roasted carrot dish with Thyme …. that’s definitely a recipe that you could find in a search engine’s results.
- Thyme – that little bag of herb is not marijuana. If you don’t want to use it right away, it would be easy to dry it for later!
- Red Onions – this year was not as good for onions as last year was. But if you were in the CSA last year, you might still have some left over? heh
- Peppers – a combo of not-hots.
- Eggplants – Asian and/or Italian Eggplants
- Radishes – Daikon, Watermelon, and/or Black Spanish Round – roast them up and eat with the roasted carrots perhaps. Maybe you still have some beets too! Or slice em up onto a salad or sandwich, they’re right purty inside.
Bahahahaa, at first glance, I saw the bag of thyme and was like, cool, they finally sent weed!
Love this description of September: “A proper September feels like this, suspended timelessly between summer and fall, the sunlight golden at any hour. “
Your heart really poured into this update. I’m so happy you two are so happy. What a precious feeling in this world.