Signs of Autumn and Another Rainy Day

More cold rainy weather is welcome today.  Forced to relax though the list of chores is long, I'm tired of go, go, going and glad for respite.  Planting garlic and the two new plum trees will have to wait for a drier, sunnier day.  Check out my latest column in the Chapel Hill News: Signs of Autumn in the Air.  You may recognize the photo from yesterdays post.

It's hard to go wrong with zinnias

The only problem is that I didn't plant enough zinnias this year.  This beauty has been blooming for a solid week and seems to just get bigger, it's about 4 inches across.  And it's blooming just outside the kitchen window so I've been enjoying it every time I stand at the sink, how lucky.

Here is an autumn bouquet I made including zinny's, mums and asters which are putting on a big show right now all around our yard.  A basket of the winter squash we grew along with a braid of garlic that I made back in July after I harvested my crop, big and beautiful.  With birds migrating through right now, the bird book and binoculars have been a regular fixture on the kitchen table.  It must be fall.

Rainy Day

It's been cold and rainy all day, the temperature actually dropped over the course of the afternoon and the rain got heavier too.  Not much of a day to be outside so I've got no photo for you or stories much to tell.

I want to give a shout out for my brother Alex who is featured in the Oct 7th issue of the Independent Weekly in a discussion with a couple of friends of his; local chef Amy Tornquist of Watts Grocery and sustainable farming advocate Scott Marlow of RAFI.  They are talking about a new book called Just Food: How locavores get it wrong and how we can truly eat responsibly by James E. McWilliams.  They agree with some points in the book and not with others.  Check it out here.

Last of the Beans

You'll probably be glad to hear this should be my last bean post, at least for this growing season.  These are Borlottos, they have the most gorgeous red and green pods, I normally pick them when they are turning a bit pale and start to feel like a kid glove but I pulled these to make way for that clover the other day.

The last of the season have been the very biggest of the year, look at those fatties in the foreground!  I'll add these to the 2 gallons I already have shelled in the freezer.  I've seen similar beans in catalogues and markets also called Tongue of Fire or horticultural beans.  They are easy to shell and excellent in soups, I especially like to put them in my minestrone and they are also lovely just simmered up with some onion, garlic and herbs, a little pork product never hurts either, they are very meaty and delicious.  A good brown pone of buttermilk skillet cornbread is the ticket for dipping into the beany broth.

Another Camellia

I know, more camellias?!  I do work at Camellia Forest so I just can't help myself.  This is Autumn Spirit, I adore the subtle white edges on the pink flower petals. This is a winning Camellia sasanqua that is a vigorous grower and another early bloomer.  A favorite.

I've got a pan of butternut squash, poblano chiles, onions and garlic roasting with cumin and chile powder, planning to add some chunks of pork that Mr.D smoked and roll it all up in tortillas, I think it'll be yummy. Now - some stretching after a long day of work.

Before and After

My project the past two days.  Cleared out all the winter squash, old beans and dug out the leeks, harvested the basil and made pesto, cut back the asparagus ferns, swept the paths and then turned the soil (by hand) and sowed clover seed, it's watered and ready to go. Glad to have that done.

When I harvested the basil yesterday I discovered all these caterpillars in the leaves, I think they are actually from bean beetles, but no beans left for them to eat so they jumped to the next crop. They were fairly entertaining trying to find their way out of the compost pail.

This one managed to make it over to my coffee cup.  They all went to the compost pile in the end, hopefully they won't come back to haunt us next year.

First Fall Fire

Part of todays haul

My goal today was to clear out one of the veg beds where winter squash, basil, leeks and beans have been growing all summer.  I want to clear it to sow a cover crop of clover for the winter, its been on my list for days.  I did manage to get the winter squash out along with the vines and pulled 2 basil plants with which I made a giant batch of pesto for the freezer.  I didn't finish digging the leeks or planting the clover, tomorrow I hope.  I hadn't picked any veggies in a while but the peppers are starting to ripen up again and the eggplant looked like they were going to start becoming pure seed, it's so late in the season, they weren't really growing so I picked most of them.  I read somewhere about eating butternut squash immature, that they are buttery so I'm going to give it a try, I picked a couple of pounds of young green ones in order to pull the vines out.

We had this salad to start dinner tonight, a base of bibb, pears and toasted almonds dressed with a mustard, balsmic and olive oil dressing.  Topped with beets and figs and garnished with crispy croutons spread with Blue d'Auvergne cheese.  So good.  Eggplant roasted with peppers,tomatoes and garlic, tossed with pasta and some of todays pesto made the main course.

We then sat around an outdoor fire, the first of the season, drinking red wine and toasting marshmallows.  Life is pretty darn sweet ain't it?