Falling into Autumn

You know you are busy when you can’t even stop to write about it, and that’s what happened to me over the last 4 months.  It’s been the good kind of busy, but I do miss having time to think.

Somehow, summer evaporated without a trace while I wasn’t looking.  I am typing this from my kitchen table where just this morning I was drinking coffee to the background hum of the heater under the sink.  It has warmed up since then, but it still feels like winter is arriving quickly.

The garden got away from me this year – I did manage to harvest some cucumbers, tomatoes and squash, but between rain, humidity and my time away, most of it went to waste, which was a shame. The few squash I did grow were monsters though, and today one will become butternut squash and garlic lasagna, as well as some bacon squash bites for a squash-themed dinner next door later on.

The garden got most of the way finished this year, but in just a couple rainy weeks while I was traveling, the butternut squash vines grew to 35+ feet long, obscuring most of the garden under the leaves and blossoms, and only now can I pull out the dying vines and finish the fence and the garden beds.  I’m hoping it’s not too cold over the next few weekends while I work.

I did get a lot of pesto made and frozen, canned some salsa verde, and today I am blanching and freezing kale and broccoli from our CSA for winter eating.

Blanching kale and broccoli is simple – drop kale leaves, minus the stems into boiling water for 2 minutes.  Cool and dry on towels.  Add to baggies and pop into the freezer for soups, smoothies or stir-fries. Broccoli, same 2 minutes, same process.  You can blanch a large batch of veggies in just a few minutes, so it’s a perfect activity when you are busy.  The kale stems leftover are great snacks for our bunnies, Clover and Marshmallow.

But mostly it’s been work, and starting to figure out how to integrate Sithean’s future resident, Eli the Artist, into our lives.  The house as it is will work for 4 for a while, but as wonderful as it is it’s also not a big space, so I hired an architect to help us figure out how we might make the space work for us in the long haul. We’re a ways away from the work, but getting it all lined up while we settle in this winter is a fun project for the whole family.

I love garden season, but I’m excited for fall, the holidays, winter, and a little peace and quiet here and there.  While the pace of life isn’t going to slow down completely, It’s always a little relaxing when I’ve closed the book on outdoor maintenance for the season, and I can focus my attention inward.

Happy Fall.