Welcome Fall!

This blog post won't be one of my longer ones because I've been hooked by a book, "Sycamore Row" by John Grisham and it is calling me.
I love reading. If you find a good book it is such a pleasure.  I used to read gardening books all the time and have a complete library of them, but discovered I guess that I liked figuring things out myself in the garden, and that some things that people talked about in those books just didn't turn out that way for me.
Maybe too it's  the need to get involved in things beyond vegetables and my garden. I'm not young anymore and as much as I love what I do, I recognize there's more to life. I think a lot about what I'll do when I "retire". I wonder how I'll mange not working so hard, having more time and what I'll do with that time.
A lot of interests of mine have sort of fallen by the wayside over the years, because the veg business has taken so much time and effort. Sadly, some friendships which I should have nurtured have too.
In my life now, it's time to get ready for slower days....make some phone calls, play with my dogs, knit a bit and enjoy. Make wine with my grapes, drink that wine with friends and enjoy the next whole bunch of years. And read that book!

Fall is a busy time though in the garden, no question about it. I'll finish up seeding the hoophouses for winter tomorrow, but over the coming weeks I have dozens of varieties of bean seeds to harvest, some of which I hope will be enjoyed as dried beans in my CSA baskets. And lots of other seeds to process as well.

It doesn't look like frost is imminent, but no matter, it's on my mind. I have lots of peppers to pick and dry, herbs as well, and tons of tomatoes still to deal with. It's a great time of year, an abundant time of year. I love the fall.
Today's baskets had a good hit of summer still and a good hit of heat in the form of hot peppers. Tomatillos, sweet peppers, summer squash or melon, kale or chard, parsley, leaf celery, heirloom tomatoes, edamame, a handful of ground cherries and a branch of thorny Morelle de Balbis. Be careful with those!

Here's a recipe for those tomatillos. In this cooler weather remember too, they make a great soup.

Tomatillo Salsa (from Practical Paleo)

Yield: aprox 1 cup

Ingredients

• 2C tomatillos, outer skin peeled and fruit quartered
• 1 tsp jalapeno pepper minced
• ½ tsp garlic minced or grated
• 1-2 tsp fresh horseradish minced or grated (to taste- using more will yield a spicier sauce)
• 1 T apple cider vinegar or distilled vinegar
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil

Method

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.  Serve chilled.

For a less spicy version leave the jalapeno out and adjust the horse radish