Don't you just love fall?
I know I was reluctant to greet this season, since I felt I hadn't experience enough summer....
But like any good friend who you haven't seen for a long time, you connect immediately and pick up where you left off.
Hello fall.
I'm so happy to see you again!
So much of the season makes me smile but lately the bounty of the harvest from our garden brings me the most JOY! I feel abundantly blessed when basket after basket of food comes into my kitchen, ready to be processed and stored away for the upcoming long, cold winter.
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| Even though I've had a garden for years now, I feel abundantly blessed every time I go outside. There is something so deeply fulfilling about growing your own food and feeding your family |
I remember when I was just a small child, before my Dad died, living in our little, white clapboard house in Hope, my parents would drive up to Orchard country in early September and bring home boxes of peaches, pears, plums, and apples. Our small kitchen, always the heart of our home, with mom presiding in front of the sink, would be bustling with food preparation and canning. As the shelves of our pantry slowly filled, one jar after another with delicious peaches, pears, plums and applesauce to name a few, I felt safely wrapped in an envelope of abundance and gratitude.
We really didn't have much and were far from well off but having those shelves full of food and living in a loving family was EVERYTHING I needed.
In the old days, if you wanted to eat vegetables or have fruit in the winter, you had to put them up. Canning was the number one choice, since no power was needed to maintain the food's freshness...just a good 'ole pantry like we had or even better; a cold room. Nowadays we have the choice of canning, drying, freezing, storing or buying in a grocery store as needed.
Even if you aren't able to grow your own food, you can buy large quantities at low prices and either store them or process them. When I was at my local Super Store yesterday they were selling 10 pounds of beets, carrots and 20 pounds of potatoes for around $3.50 dollars each and if you had a cold storage area, you could easily store them and save some serious cash.
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| Victoria loves to collect our eggs, today we have a whopper of a basket considering we just have four hens |
At a recent SENS (Sustainable Environment Network Systems) group meeting in my area, several experts on harvesting, processing and storing food gave mini talks. I was quite interested in the mini root cellar. Even those who have a tiny bit of yard can use this method. Simply find a large bin with a good fitting lid (an old camping cooler works great) and then dig a hole and put the bin in the hole. Cover it with leaves and voila, a modern day root cellar, which will store potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, squash, etc. If you are like me though, you may need to dig a few holes and have several boxes because our squash crop alone would fill up a box. (and I recently gave a bunch away to family who don't have gardens)
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| No root cellar....no problem, just dig and hole, find a container that seals well and put some leaves on top |
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| Here's Kate, harvesting a spaghetti squash to take for show and tell. She said many children in her class had never seen one so her teacher roasted it in the kitchen and they all got to taste it. In our day and age, many children don't know how food is grown or even what it tastes like fresh YUM! |
We planted fruit trees in our backyard eight years ago this fall and this was the first year we had what I call a BUMPER crop of apples on our two trees; a honey crisp and a spartan. If I had thinned them a bit more, I would have grown even more usable apples...ah a note to self for next year.
Still, it was enough to keep me busy most nights making apple sauce, apple crisp, apple pies, and recently, I tried drying the apples. Soaking them in water with a bit of lemon juice helped to keep them from going brown. The kids love them!
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| Victoria and Kathryn digging up potatoes, we planted them near the lavender this year with lots of bees and we had a great crop of nice size potatoes, of course last fall I dug in a lot of dried leaves and grass clippings into this area and that seems to have lightened the soil so big ones could grow. |
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| Will was so proud of the corn he grew. Although he only had a 4x4 foot box to grow it in, we had at least 5 good feeds from that crop of corn. Next year will even be better since this was the first year we did it in the box and of course there is cardboard at the bottom which will have decomposed next season. We will also rotate it to the far box. |
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| Even Harrison brought food in from the garden this summer...I had to laugh when I took this picture since the purple cabbage he just picked for coleslaw one night is the size of a basketball and he's wearing one of his team basketball shirts in this picture. I'm going to miss watching him play this winter...but to each season in life there is a gift. |
I put the dried apples in a large canning jar in our pantry and the kids help themselves when they want a snack. When I see them sitting at our kitchen island, with the pantry door open and the jar of dried apples in their lap, it takes me right back to my childhood, when I felt safe and comforted with our full pantry.
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| The kids coming in from the garden for some hummus on bagels and a large bowl of veggies...behind Victoria is our pantry cupboard where I keep jars of dried apples, nuts, and baking supplies. Maybe it will be part of their childhood memory one day. |
What are your happiest childhood memories? Do they have anything to do with food?
We have had so many apples this fall that one day, we came home to find a large brown, paper bag at our front door that said, "Chinese" food on the outside. The kids got so excited, after all, who doesn't like take out? But then they all groaned when they saw it was just a big bag of apples. (If they only knew in most parts of the world this would be a real treat but not so much here in apple country) Thanks Auntie J....it was nice to have another variety of apples to try and even if the kids weren't thrilled with more of the fresh stuff, I was and I knew exactly what to do with that bag of apples.
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| Our eight year old Honey Crisp apple tree |
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| Next year I have to thin them so I get more usable apples, still they are great for apple sauce and drying |
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| Soaking the cut and peeled apples for 5 minutes in water and a bit of lemon juice keeps them from going brown |
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| Dried apples are my new kid's favourite snack, sweet and chewy! |
So while harvesting is in full swing around here. We are also mindful of the memories we are creating for ourselves and our children. One thing we have started back up again is Friday family fun night. (Sorry Harry but you used to win all the time anyway!) It's one night of the week where we actually don't have anything going on. I thought it would be the perfect night to get the kids involved making a meal together. After dinner we can play a few board games or card games. Maybe work on a puzzle together. It's been a big hit so far and the kids start talking about what we will make for dinner and what game we will play early in the week so I know it's something they look forward to.
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| Grace helping to make pizza on family fun night |
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| Grace taught me how to make stuffed crust pizza..it's easy, just mozzarella cheese, oregano, basil and garlic! |
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| Our new fall schedule, busy with everything that interests us and something for everyone |
So far we have only managed a few evenings staying home with popcorn, licorice and Netflix, except for one night we went to our new Starbuck's coffee shop in town and chatted, while sipping on a pumpkin spice latte! It was absolutely yummy. Also, did you know that if you bring your OWN CUP, they will fill it to the top with your beverage of choice and it's actually, 10 cents cheaper than if you use one of their paper cups. I love it!
(If you want to make your own pumpkin spice lattes this fall, check out my blog post; Simple Pleasures)
This weekend is Thanksgiving in my part of the world. I have so much to be thankful for this year.
Let me list a few of them off, although they aren't in any particular order....I'm thankful for.....
1. Peace: I live in Canada....living in a country that is peaceful is not something I take for granted.
2. Health: Being healthy and having a healthy family but knowing our health care is excellent if we need it is huge
3. Education: From our youngest who are in elementary school to our oldest who are in University or beyond, we feel fortunate to have access to wonderful education in our country
4. Clean water and food: Abundance of both....we are so blessed.
5. A Home: Seeing others less fortunate reminds me of simply having somewhere safe to put my head is everything.....let's help others less fortunate!
6. Warm Clothes and Shoes....at this time of year when the days are colder, I'm so grateful and I'm happy to declutter and share what we aren't using with others. Makes me smile when I can share
7. Hope: Having hope and moving in the direction of creating a world where EVERYONE can have the things I have listed above, keeps me saying, "thank you!"
My husband David will be out of town on work for much of the weekend (thankful for his job) but he will return in time for us to celebrate his birthday on Monday. And so I will end this blog, saying, "Happy Birthday David!"
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| David in September...little picnic in the park |
And this following song, "Harvest Moon," by Neil Young, is dedicated to you. On our next date night, let's dance under the light of the moon. "I'm still in love with you on this harvest moon."
Thank you for coming to visit today. I hope you are harvesting food and memories in your home too.
But MOST of all, let HOPE be harvested from your heart. Let's gather together and be grateful for what we have and share our bounty with others. I'm holding my vision of a brighter world for all.
Until we connect again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope
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