Last Day . . .

Another year gone by.

It's easy to begin thinking about all the things I'd like to do with my time over the winter, but it's also hard to take that last look at the empty fields. Every season I reap another set of memories from them. There were quiet mornings weeding at 6am when no one's coffee had kicked in yet, but we wanted to beat the coming summer heat. Aidan once played The Ants Go Marching on a blade of grass while we waited for a new load of plants to transplant. We sat in the shade and laughed. Daren and I revisited the old ways in Spring when Ted sent us to plant dozens of rows of potatoes by hand. In fact, I can look at any field and recite all the things that have happened there somewhere in the past.

This year's highlight was meeting many new friends in NYC. It has inspired me to want to know folks from other sites since Prospect Heights has hosted the crew two years now and it my main city contact. There are six others, some of whom I've met in passing at our harvest party, but would like to visit personally and bring a canning workshop to.

I could easily get carried away with thoughts. We grew the largest celeriac this year, but still argue that it's hardly a valuable achievement, I mean we don't get e-mails saying "send more celeriac!" It's a farmer-pride-thing. Big vegetables, straight rows, and weedless beds just mean that at the end of a day you can sit back with a cold Saranac and smile while the sun sets. There's no more to do.

And so there is no more to do. Winter will soon take over, and as soon as I've settled into my ways, the itch will come back and I'll be eager to return for a new season. Farming holds some power.

Night in Valhala

The sun began to set, the fires were lit, and our greenhouse-turned-meade hall suddenly filled with characters of every sort. Mugs of homemade brew were toted about in Jan's amazing theme of a Viking great hall. Everything from an Ent to executioner, cowboy and mosquito with vials of different blood-types arrived for the food and festivities. Thor himself made an appearance for the night, as he is a friend of Windflower. The white owl at his side was my favorite costume of the evening.

Oddly, most of the crew this season had some sort of brewing project happening in their home. Aaron and Adam made hard cider and meade, Daren brought some wild grape wine, and I had a few bottles of ale aging at home. I did manage to cork and prepare a bottle of apple wine for the party, needless to say, we had plenty to drink. It's hard to say why everyone suddenly had an interest in brewing. Either we were all really happy, a bunch of alcoholics, or depressed. (I was happy, for the record, and wanted to try something different. I'll blog about it later.)

Now, for pictures!

Challenge Met!

My husband had to question me when I can home with a bag of shrimp. He asked me if I wasn't planning to eat dinner. I smiled and explained the challenge here on the Windflower blog, then told him that I didn't have the heart to buy all the other seafood ingredients that the original recipe suggested.

Needless to say, Jeremy enjoyed his part of the seafood and chard recipe that night, the rest followed me to the farm the next day. I must comment that the dish was extremely easy to make and used minimal yet flavorful ingredients. By lunch the next day, the flavors had melded very well. Most folks still gave it an uncertain eye, but tried it anyway. The spicy nature, though subtle, was the most negative comment worth mention. I tried to put a picture in this post, but smartphone keeps giving me trouble. Take my word for it, the finished dish looked beautiful!

Overall Rating: * * * three stars

Next Up! Morrocian Eggplant

P.s. So we here that many of the city folks email Ted saying they don't know what to do with so many potatoes! Gasp! Let us country folk help. This dish is great with eggs for breakfast or as a dinner side.


POTATOES with CARAMELIZED ONIONS

4 medium potatoes
2 medium onions
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup feta cheese, or any other kind you prefer
a pinch of dried basil

Peel the onions, halve them, and cut into thin slices. Heat the butter in a 12 inch skilet and add the onions, stirring to coat. Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into quarter inch slices (I like to leave mine whole, but you can quarter them first if you like). Arrange the potatoes over the onions in a single layer, sprinkle with salt, cover and cook on medium heat for fifteen minutes.

Flip the potatoes and onions with a spatula, recover and cook 10 more minutes or until fork tender. Turn off heat. Top with the feta and basil, recover and let sit until cheese to slightly melted. Serve hot or cold.

Berries Abundant

I found this little bird nest in the raspberries while picking some the other day. It's the perfect jam season right now. Red and golden raspberries are abundant. Jan and I made swirled jam by making two batches and alternately filling the jars with each color.

Last week was elderberry week. Andrea picked some to make wine with her dad, and Daren helped me pick a fair amount on the premise that he'd get a jar of the finished product. I never mind a little barter here in the countryside, especially if I get help with the prickly, outdoor part. Unlike raspberries that can be eaten off the bush with fervor, elderberries have a funny taste that comes out best as a jelly or syrup. They are poisonous in large, raw quantities, but perfectly safe when cooked. The right-side photo is of elderberries, but the other is of pokeweed, a non-edible berry of the same color.

Also, since plums are in season, I canned them in light syrup with whole cloves and a touch of maple liqueur. They will be saved for Thanksgiving or Christmas morning. The deep purple globes floating in the jars look gorgeous!