And here we are – 8:05 p.m. on September 22. Astrological autumn. Of course, if you are a meteorologist, autumn began on Sept. 1 and will run through to November 30. They like to keep things tidy. We are at the time of roughly equal day and night, with long nights creeping in faster now, and twilight getting shorter every week. While I’ll take an early spring by a few weeks, it never quite feels like summer is over on Labor Day weekend, and usually there’s more warm weather to be enjoyed.
Winding down
The garden is tired, and so is the gardener. I’d like not to deal with any more tomatoes or sprouting broccoli; but they keep going strong. I have another big batch of pesto to make (and give away this time, freezer is full), and then I’ll call the basil a season. Here’s the thing about global warming, in the last 20 years, I’ve seen our first frost date get pushed out more and more and we seldom see a freeze before mid-October now. It used to be a mad dash to cover those tomato plants to protect them for a few more precious weeks because there might be a frost in early September, and it made a difference. We did everything we could to protect that garden and keep things growing just a little longer. Now, the annual plants go well past their prime, get leggy and raggedy looking. We got our little longer, and it isn’t pretty. Well, except for the roses. I’ve a lovely late flush of the beauties, almost as good as June, although the blossoms are more fragile. Still beautifully fragrant, and it’s keeping the bees amused.
We needed a break
We took a quick trip to the coast this past weekend, a date I had to reschedule when I came down with vertigo last summer. It seemed like a good weekend at the time, past Labor Day so the big summer crowd would be gone, and before foliage. I got to meet up with Judy at New England Garden and Thread for a delightful lunch at Stonewall Kitchens. It was really nice catching up, and I went home with a beautiful dwarf goatsbeard plant that will live in my garden next to my miniature roses. It’s wonderful to meet up with blog friends!
I guess the tourists didn’t get the memo that the leaves haven’t really started to turn color yet because it was quite crowded, and no foliage of worth to be viewed. But the weather was delightful, sunny and warm, gentle sea breezes, with just some rain and fog on the way home. Two beautiful sunrises, lots of tasty food, some shopping, and relaxing on the balcony. Perfect, and our granddaughter took the weekend break from college and she and her friend joined us, so there was a bounty of youthful energy and exuberance surrounding us.
Upon arrival home, we were greeted by two happy dogs and another thousand tomatoes that are destined for the soup pot and the food shelf.
Toss it all in, it will be good
In the pot went trimmings from the garden – kale, Brussels sprouts leaves, sorrel, broccoli, my last sad little pepper and summer squash, the last few pole beans, and lots of basil – some carrots and potatoes I had on hand, corn from our local farm stand, which is really inexpensive right now, and you get 13 fat ears for the price of 12.
Use what you have, my motto
Nothing is exact here. Just make your base of aromatics, I used onion, carrot, pepper, and mushrooms, but you can use leeks or anything from the onion family, then maybe some celery, fennel, parsnips, and of course a lot of garlic. To this add the vegetables you want to use. In this case, in went some pole beans, corn, and sturdy greens from the garden. Kale, of course, some Brussels sprouts leaves which no one ever thinks of using but are really tasty and nutritious. Cook and use them as you would collard greens, they are tough until cooked. I tossed the those and the kale in along with the potatoes and beans so they could soften nicely from a longer cook time, then added the sorrel and broccoli sprouts in at the end. Since I had a lot of basil to use up, I went with Italian seasoning. Have fun with it, play around, and just let it cook itself.
No frost yet, but still the garden gets tired
And now, it’s time to put most of it to bed for the season. The kale and parsley, Brussels sprouts and sorrel, chard and chives will keep going a long time, but they are definitely growing slowly at this point. It’s time to be done with it so we can make soup and sit by the fire, bake bread, and keep our fingernails clean for a little while at least.
The wheel of the year is turning, and I’m ready. Want some cherry tomatoes? No? How about some harvest soup? You can use whatever you have on hand, it will be delightful.
Trim the Garden Kale and Corn Soup
Everything diced how you like them for soup;
- 1 large onion
- 2 or 3 small carrots or one large
- 1 sweet pepper, or a hot one
- A few mushrooms if you have them
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 zucchini or summer squash, if you have one
- 1 or 2 cups of chopped beans
- A few potatoes
- A couple of handfuls of sturdy greens: kale, chard, collards, or Brussels sprout leaves
- 2 cups of cooked corn
- 1 or 2 cups of broccoli florets
- Fresh basil leaves, five or six or 25
In a large stock pot, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and add the onion, carrots, pepper, and mushrooms. Sauté until soft and fragrant and add the garlic and Italian seasoning. Toss in the squash, beans, and potatoes and cover with water by about a centimeter, the veggies will exude more liquid. If you have a couple of corn cobs, toss those in for flavor, if not, that’s ok. Any other veggies in the crisper you need to use up? They will work.
Bring to a boil, add the greens, season with salt and pepper, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about a half hour on lowest temperature.
Once everything is tender, add the corn, broccoli, and basil and cook another five minutes.
Taste for seasoning, and serve it up. I made some cornbread to go along with this and it was a perfect match; of course, I added some corn kernels to the bread, after all, it is the season of plenty.
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And now, for your meditation pleasure, my I present a sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean:
“Odd as I am sure it will appear to some, I can think of no better form of personal involvement in the cure of the environment than that of gardening. A person who is growing a garden, if he is growing it organically, is improving a piece of the world. He is producing something to eat, which makes him somewhat independent of the grocery business, but he is also enlarging, for himself, the meaning of food and the pleasure of eating.” ~ Wendell Berry
With the end of September approaching, I’ll be planting my fall garden.
What a luscious bowl of soup …. and cornbread is exactly what this needed! Of course, you were right. Beautiful sunrise, D. 🌅
Love your autumnal story and the relaxing sunrise and the little-bit-of-this-and-a-little-bit-of-that soup which makes total sense and tastes just great! Enjoy your Fall and the waiting for a comfortable winter ahead . . .