September in the Garden: Time to Harvest and Preserve

Labor Day weekend pretty much signals the end of the summer season and the beginning of fall.

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Labor Day weekend pretty much signals the end of the summertime season and the beginning of fall . tike go back to school , already we experience the days getting short and nights are cooler . Although we are still harvest home tomatoes , Republic of Chile , beans , greens and herbs , the squash , cucumber and melon vine plants stopped producing and have wither and dried , and we had to glean the wintertime squash already since the vines were turning brown . We bring around them out in the sun for ten daytime and now they are stack away in the basement in our coldroom .

We had a bountiful summertime here in Maryland and I am thankful . Autumn is a time to slow down a moment and excogitate - and give thanks . We had a gangbuster harvest of squash and cukes , early on , and then the mad apple were better this year than I ever commend and then the tomatoes take up and are still going , though some of the vine are turning chocolate-brown and atrophy . This year I grew the yard - recollective bean and male child did they produce ! I could hardly keep up with them - the fragile and medium - sized ace were tender - and the I that got too big I have been shelling and drying for winter soup .

We ’ve had our share of hot weather condition and the humidity often made me palpate that I was in a sauna . So drying herb , beans and pepper is a moment of a challenge . I dry my red Republic of Chile pepper in the oven at the lowest temperature potential ; I will blog about this later this month . I hang my herb in bundles from the rafters , however they do n’t get all dry . I have feel that turn on my oven light raises the temperature in my oven to between 105 and 110º F. This is the perfect place to get out that little bit of excess moisture from herbaceous plant leave of absence and eatable flowers . You must be sure that they are terse and not limp before storing them - limpness indicates wet - and if you pack them into a jar with any dampness they will mold and all of your Labour will be for naught . This also works for drying bean - when you think they are wry , spread them on a baking sheet and go out them in the oven with the light on for 12 to 24 hours .

I get it on the putting up of garden - invigorated nutrient . properly now , I am sit down here have a morsel of lunch . I am enjoying the aroma of chiles drying in the oven as I eat . I am take some homemade herbed cheeseflower spread on whole - pale yellow cracker with pickled cucumbers , squash and onions ; it is a perfect and wholesome combining . On the side , I have a generous dollop of my mad apple and garlic chutney ( which is sourish , sweet and hot ) with a few walnut tree halves , which add the desired crunch and bitterness . The sourness from the vinegary muddle and chutney is offset by gash of dead - mature juicy dulcet and tangy tomato . Oh and I had a nubby , sweet carrot too . I am determine on one of the last peaches of the season or some plump , new red grapes for dessert . This food makes me happy and content , not to mention nourished . eat from the garden is one of the well possible thing a person can do .

If you have n’t done much preserving , there is still plenty of sentence . Though the stunner and plums and clavus are just about become from the farmer ’ markets - you might chance upon some . I still have more tomato to can , even though I have made sauce and salsa . My basil has been honkin ’ all summer ; I whop it back above the bottom two solidification of leaves four time already and it is almost two substructure tall again . Get out there and harvest your herb . Make jams , jellies , butters and preserves with apple , pear and grapes - last week I was charmed to find a Carica papaya and some figs at my local marketplace - all of which are just coming into season . I let that pawpaw get drained good so it looked nigh black and almost rotted , then peeled it and savored each bit all by myself . Have you ever run through a pawpaw ? If not you take to test them ; they have a very lenient - textured frame , sort of like a mango . The tang is sweet-smelling , with a wind of banana and a little piece tutti - frutti . The incentive is that I have six fat black seeds which I am going to establish , though I have to read about them first .

So I have to tell you about the grand finale to a utterly lovely dining experience I had latterly . Last week for my natal day at Woodberry Kitchen , where my girl , Lucie , ismaitre d ’ , I was served two humble ice-cream sundae for afters . One was on the menu and it feature Pimpinella anisum Hyssopus officinalis ice cream with a little routine of bird preserve in the bottom of the stunner and was top with fresh raspberries and of course a moment of whipping cream - it was a perfectly lovely combining . The pastry dough chef had just made some papaya tree ice ointment , which was not on the carte yet - and he made a dark chocolate and peanut butter sauce to serve well with it ( think how both chocolate and groundnut butter go well with banana ) . Need I say , that each bite was a taste experience ? Yum …

So back to the home kitchen … I make preserves and sauce in small pile , so as not to be overwhelmed and can usually falsify dinner while I am processing . Creating syrups , cordials , aromatic bitters and shrub from refreshing green groceries and herb can be done fair simply and quickly . I think of preserved amplitude as great wealth stack away in my coldroom , waiting for the cold conditions ahead and to give as vacation gifts . I would so much rather receive a jar of homemade preserve or pickle than a bric-a-brac or something that I do n’t need . So get meddling now , while there is still plenty of overbold green groceries .

tally out this recipe forSwiss Chard Rolls with Quinoa - it is something I created the other night from what was available in the garden - delicious and respectable - for - you taboot !

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Swiss chard lasted through the summer and is having a resurgence with the cooler weather. Click on other pix to enlarge and read captions.Photo/Illustration: Susan Belsinger

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