Summer Wind-Down

It may (or may not) have been noted that I've been m.i.a. recently. I have not stopped eating, nor have I ceased going to the farm each week to pick up my share of veggie goodness. And, while my own garden is starting to seriously slow down, I am still getting more eggplant, lots of basil, and a few peppers (although, I've decided not to grow peppers anymore. some bug keeps eating them before they're ready to be picked. The peppers begin to rot on the plant, and I'm forced to remove them and toss into the compost. It makes me angry. Those pepper plants have been renting space in my garden for FAR to long for me to be tossing the veggies out, so I'm evicting them next Spring. Maybe.) I'm still making foods that are tasty, but I've slowed down a little in the home-cooked meals department. August was a very busy month, with lots of travel, etc. And it was crazy hot for a while, which I normally would have liked, but for it to come on so late in the game was just a tease and I don't have a swimming pool...



As far as eating is concerned, I basically have been eating a lot of my veggies either grilled or raw. Lots of cucumbers, carrots, peppers, some greens, etc. And I need to be honest with you. I am so over eggplant and squash/zucchini, that I passed right by those bins at the farm this week. I do not want those veggies any more. No thank you. I also managed to pawn some veggies in my fridge off on family member the past two weekends, which is an excellent way to "use" your produce. Share the wealth!

Perhaps it's the cooler nights and mornings here, but I'm beginning to crave things like apples (apple butter! apple crisp! dutch babies! apples and peanut butter!) and fall/winter sqashes (garlic-butternut squash soup! roasted acorn squashes!) I think it's an okay feeling...it's part of the seasonal cycle. I am, however, still bitter about not having my fill of tomatoes this summer. That certainly put a damper on things, didn't it? What has made the end of summer exciting, however, is that I just picked up a WATERMELON from the farm. Cool, right? I think so. Especially since that very morning I had written a grocery list and noted that I needed a watermelon, since I'd not had any all summer.

Thanks Mountain View Farm CSA for growing watermelons! What a great treat!! I plan on eating it as is. No messing around unless I start getting multiple watermelons a week...then it's time to brainstorm for more ideas.

I do have a few recipes coming down the pike, so stay tuned. And because the weather's cooled a bit and we're getting more salad greens again, I'm thinking that I'd like to try some new and interesting salad dressing recipes....

As an aside, David and I are contemplating joining a CSA for meat this fall. If you live in the area and this interests you, check out Austin Brothers Valley Farm in Belchertown, MA. They have a booth at the Amherst Farmer's Market (which is on Saturdays). Their meat shares run differently than produce shares, in that the shareholder picks up meat once a month. I believe all the meat is packaged and ready for the freezer, and it's a combination of beef and pork. Now, if I can just find someone with chickens...