Glory, Hallelujah! This amazing fall is extending our season oh so beautifully. Even as the ferns wither and brown on the forest's edge and the maples slowly kindle and then burst into flame, the garden has held on to vibrant, nourishing riches. The jewel tones of eggplant, pepper, kale glow on in lush rows. But, alas, the center and temps cannot hold. The end of the week is sounding the warning call of frost ...there will so very soon come an evening not long enough to pick and harvest before the dark tent of night covers the dome of sky above us and the temps plummet, officially transitioning the garden to late fall. BUT, it is not this night, nor the next few. So this is the week to stock pile bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant. All freeze splendidly, or roast in the oven or on the grill and tuck away for a bright taste of summer in the midst of a north country winter. Likewise, stringing a few blazingly hued hot peppers to dry will transport you to the heat of the southwest even as you split your kindling and stack your woodpile. The leeks, cabbage, and kale are gently whispering to you to be simmered into a creamy soup, easy campanions to wild rice or potatoes, your favorite smoky sausage to be eaten out of heavy earthen ware bowls near a flickering, cheery fire as we and the farmstead all herald the return to fall.
