Finally, Sunday morning, October 18, we had our first freeze of the season, and it wasn’t even a hard killing one. We knew it was coming. The night before, I stripped the last of the tomatoes, picked whatever basil I wanted, grabbed some of the last autumn roses, and called the garden year finished, well…
Category: Farm to table
If I make a pot of something special, will you help us stack some wood?
There’s something about the light this time of year that gives one pause; not quite stark winter light, but more a luminescent cast that makes color dance. Shadows deepen, and when night falls it does so like a curtain dropping with no long summer twilight. The temperatures change quickly too. We’ll be outside appreciating the…
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‘Tis the season of lasts! But don’t worry, there’s more to come!
The foliage is brilliant this year! Maybe I always say that. But we’ve had no driving rains here to knock the fragile leaves off the trees, nor fierce winds. Of course it depends on where you are in New England with the higher elevations showing a lot more color right now, and many areas were…
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Autumn has arrived, let’s clean the garden and make soup!
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,…
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A fig harvest in Vermont – patience is its sweet reward.
Woke up this morning and the thermometer had dipped to 46 degrees F. (8 C.). First time this fall a drop into the 40s. By 10 a.m. it had warmed up to a beautiful 65 with a pleasant breeze and blue skies smudged with just a few wispy clouds. The windchimes serenaded us, and it…
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Our pasta bowl is a little boring, perhaps some new shapes?
This week, we enjoyed a little rain, a little sun, and definite hints of autumn in the air, including one quite chilly night where it dipped into the 50s. My crabapples are falling, and there is the lightest touch of color coming on the leaves around here. Colder areas and the hills and mountains of…
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It’s the Season of Way Too Much, but we’re ready!
After a muggy, hazy day yesterday, there was a distinct chill in the air last night. We fell asleep with the window wide open and crickets serenading us, quite loudly. There’s one poor fellow who is stuck in the garage and we can’t seem to find him, three days he’s been calling out and yesterday…
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Please, don’t worry if your lion is a bit crabby.
I spied them at the farmers market this week. One glance and I knew our brilliant hot summer days might really have an end. Delicata squash. Yes, belonging to the classification of winter squash. Long keepers that signal fall is not far off, even though officially it is still around six weeks away on the…
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Is it time to make pickles? I’ve got a basketful of cukes, and some blueberries…
August has definitely been all over the place weather wise. Electrical storms, downpours, some soft summer rain, and the predictable heavy humidity. While our family was on vacation this past week, I did not have to worry about watering the garden. Everything grew a little too fast, and my sprouting broccoli was in full flower…
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A little victory in the garden!
We’ve had a bit of a reprieve from the Canadian wildfire haze the last two days and what a relief. Whether from fires in Canada or our western states, air quality is on alert far and wide, and I don’t see it getting better any time soon, unfortunately. Our hay is on the ground drying…
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Too many peas in the garden? No such thing!
The thing is, you either have no fresh peas or you have more than you think you know what to do with all at once. The same with summer squash. Gardens are like that. When the peas are in, we eat peas at every meal, and in our house, this is one crop that is…
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You might have to close your eyes to see the pretty in this soup, or add a little flair.
Just around bedtime last night, we had one of the most intense electrical storms ever. The rain came down so fast I had two inches of water in minutes on my stone patio, hail started bombarding the house, and the lightning flashed unending like strobe lights for over 15 minutes. The dogs jumped on the…
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‘Tis the season when you can buy ripe red strawberries by the pound and not the sorrowful ounce! Picking your own is even better.
Last night for supper, I had a big bowl of strawberries. That’s it, garnished with a little blob of plain Greek yoghurt nestled on top. In strawberry season, there is nothing better and nothing more to covet. We’ve waited all year, and now all is good in the world. This is summer, and we’ll have fruits…
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Once in a while in a big blue moon…
On this day, we are all living under a ‘blue moon,’ which means it is the second full moon in the calendar month. When we speak of a blue moon, we are generally referring to something rare, in this case, an event that happens every two or three years. There won’t be another one until…
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It’s asparagus season, so let’s celebrate with brunch!
May. Some say it’s a perfect time to live in Vermont. All the months and seasons have their own charm, but I agree that there really is something special about the month of May. In our family, it begins with birthdays. My mom, sister, and one of my brothers were all born in May, spread…
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Do cabbages bloom? Not as well as an onion, but yes, and they are delicious with a special sauce.
Spring has been slow to arrive this year, but we are undeniably here. This week, ice out at Joe’s Pond, the definitive sign we are well into Vermont spring, happened at 6:21 a.m. on Thursday. The lottery ($1 a ticket) draws contestants from all over the world, and serves as a good fundraiser for the…
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Is it spring or still winter? Probably both, but we know for sure it’s mud season.
It’s snowing. We are well into April and it’s snowing. Poor man’s fertilizer is what they called it when I was growing up; that little cover of snow just when things are looking like winter is done. It only lasts a day, the warmer ground and air temperatures see to that, and usually we are…
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Who doesn’t love corn, beets & cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day? You heard right, I did say beets.
My father’s side of the family contributed the Irish genes to my DNA, and I’m sure that’s why I’ve always been drawn to that beautiful island. When I was growing up, all I knew about Irish cuisine was potatoes, soda bread, colcannon, and hearty stews, of course made with potatoes and red meat. Potatoes were…
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Let’s match the color of our dinner to the sunrise.
It’s white outside. Really white. Our trees are white, our ground is white, our roofs are white, and so are our roads. Our snowbanks are still growing, and this week’s storm may have been beautiful to behold, but at this time of year, not entirely welcome except by the kids who discovered it was marvelous…
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A lion, oysters, and some vibrant chestnuts? Voila! Dinner!
I’m easily distracted this time of year. Inside a little more than I would like, outside it is mostly cold with a bitter wind, but we’ve had a break in the weather with above freezing temperatures, blue skies, and lots of sunshine. My solar panels are earning their keep. Staying put, for now But there’s…
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Can we really eat locally in the dead of a northern winter. First, get out of the house!
Can you really eat locally in the dead of winter in the frigid climate of northern New England? Or, more accurately, the question is, can you do so and not be bored to tears eating nothing but beets and other roots? Yes you can! That one’s easily answered in the affirmative at least for our…
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What to pair with the grey early December landscape in New England? Color! We need some vibrant color!
November may be over, but the grey skies and landscapes remain, and our days continue to dwindle to what seems like precious few hours of light. Today is the meteorological beginning of winter, the three coldest months of the calendar year. We always question if we are ready for it, but it definitely is an…
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What’s that lovely aroma? Certainly, it’s not cabbage braising, right?
Oh, we knew what was coming for dinner the moment we stepped through the door after school. Cabbage. Cabbage braised for an hour until all the life was let from it. Cabbage, with its distinctive aroma that lingered, and lingered. Oh the memories! Little ways around it Mother made it edible by adding a drizzle…
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Monsters under your bed? No, just some friendly winter squash.
When the seasons turn in New England, it happens all at once, and we’ve definitely got winter knocking on our door right now! While I’m still looking at green grass, most of the leaves have fallen, and today they are calling for sleet. Shivers. I just lit the fireplace, and the dogs might not get…
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Please don’t be bitter; there’s always a way to sweeten up life, and beautiful vegetables, too!
Let’s start with radicchio! Add a little sweet, a little sour, and you’re there! All’s right in the world. We seem to keep drifting between late summer and fall, bright blues skies and finally some rain. Today, I took a walk with the dogs without a sweater, even though I woke up in the morning…
