Mid-September typically brings a frost that brings summer plants to their knees or at least shuts them down enough that I feel a sigh of relief. So, imagine me reacting to Friday night’s frost – yeh! Still, it was not enough of a hit to call it quits on summer. Some tomatoes are hanging on, peppers escaped below their thick foliage, and, heck, even beans made it through untarnished. Well, enough for that escape hatch!
Instead, the season marches on and I’m just getting tired. We didn’t get a freeze last night, we got a thunderstorm! A thunderstorm? Come on, two more inches of rain? The end of the produce season should be me mowing down weeds, tilling a bit, and putting beds to rest. Not this year. Picture me sitting on my couch anxiously looking out at a pile of mud which was once a field on my second cup of coffee – hoping for the oomph I need to surge inside me, awaiting one more shot of an adrenaline-fueled caffeine buzz to slog through mud and save the spinach.
As you can tell, farming this time of year gets pretty mental. It’s a motivation game. I try to focus on the beautiful images I can see around the farm at every turn.
Whether we make our living slogging through a field or typing on a keyboard, I think that’s all we should ask of ourselves. Pay attention to the beauty that surrounds us all.
In the box:
- Pie Pumpkin: You just bake this this over like any winter squash. Cut in half, take out seeds and bake upside down on a cookie sheet. Once soft you can use however you use that pumpkin stuff in the can.
- Red Kuri Squash
- Acorn Squash
- Rutabaga: See recipe below for a fall soup. I like that this guy says not to be afraid of the rutabaga because it is a pretty intimidating veggie.
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Spinach
- Green Onions
- Japanese Eggplant
- Potatoes, Russet or Yellow: Farmer’s choice
Lida Farm 