Getaway

 

Saturday after market we will be heading to Vermont for our annual fall foliage leaf peeping. And, we even get off work on Monday too! Yippy.

While I am the library presently, covered in mud and aphids, and I'm supposed to be job hunting and all that (ahhh, scary!!!) I wanted to let you know what's going on with us. Where we'll be this weekend. You know enjoying apple orchards, amazing views and possibly sleeping in late for a change. 

We have spent all of our anniversaries in the Northeast. And this will be our sixth fall foliage trip to celebrate our marriage. Vermont in the fall is something to behold. We absolutely love it, and obviously find it to be a worthwhile, affordable, quick weekend getaway. 

The fall produce looks amazing- turnips, radishes, mizuna, arugula, leeks and beets and winter squash galore. I've already prepared two of the best pumpkins called Baby Long Island Cheese. So, so sweet! Smoothies, oatmeal, bread and bars--- have already been made and consumed in our home. I've been asked to make pies and will get to that soon. 

Spending time with my love. That's where I am. Back in October.... 

Sharing the Fall

(curly leaf kale)

Riding on the back of the motorcycle Friday afternoon after work, crossing the Hudson River, observing Autumn make her breathtaking entrance into upstate New York, I recalled why I wanted to tell you this. Because I long for you to see what I see, hear what I hear- experience this moment with me.


Cornfields are quickly being waylaid- just as fast as those huge stalks shot up- the season is now coming to a close. Huge machines are making their way through and harvesting that stuff right up- to be fed to dairy cows mostly. Acres and acres of inedible corn. Cover crops of soybean are turning from green to a marvelous golden color. Wheat and buckwheat are planted in fields across the county.

Recently, while weeding the broccoli I became mesmerized by the sway and rhythmic flow of the Sudan grass. The nearly six foot tall shoots of grass all shimmying in cadence making a sound like that of ocean waves. Peaceful and intriguing. The tops of these long blades catching wind and whipping to and fro. The field of Sudan grass started six feet from where I stood, lost in the sound, just listening, but I dare not get any closer. On of those long tendrils might just snatch me up.

(a artichoke in bloom)

Cornfields scare me more though. Corn Maze? Are you crazy!? We passed one this evening- right after the apple orchard and before the Farmer’s Daughter ice cream stand. Yes, we are in upstate New York. We also could have stopped no less than ten times to buy a pumpkin if we didn’t have forty bushels of them in the barn currently. Cornfields demand a sort of reverence, well, the sort of cornfields around these parts. I just remember a cornfield from some scary movie and that’s enough to keep me far, far away.

That night as Chris and I sat on a picnic table behind the Farmer’s Daughter eating our ice cream we watched literally hundreds of geese land in the recently harvested cornfield (no lie) adjacent. These huge creatures in flight are something to behold. Flock after flock would fly overhead, circle back, and land honking out directions and greeting along the way. (I like to pretend anyway.) I love watching nature do her thing; the instinct of animals. The pattern and rhythm and natural progression of it all. “Are we not worth more than these?”

I asked Chris is we could head south for the winter too. He said, “Sure, why not.”

On the way home the sun made the yellow and deep orange hues in the trees more prominent. Dairy cows grazed behind their barely visible electric fences. (No barbed wire in these parts.) The dark outline of barns and silos in the distance as the setting sun pierced radiantly behind. It’s going to be an amazing autumn- full of color and beauty- even though I know it will only seem to be here momentarily. And I guess that’s why I’m trying to remember each feeling. Each first of the season.

(Thai basil)

If you were here I would make you some chia tea with cinnamon and warm pumpkin bread with dark chocolate bits in it. We could walk through the kale together and I’d point out the Russian red, the dinosaur, and the curly. I’d break you off some arugula to nibble on before heading to the herb patch. You could see the barn brimming with winter squash and onions and garlic- holding on for winter. But first, it’s going to be an amazing autumn.

If you were here I’d take you to my favorite, scenic spot (the one where you can see the hills and the hills behind the hills and the shape of more hills way, way beyond that) and show you a piece of my world.

Seven Weeks to Go (not that I'm counting)

How the weeks and months have flow by, but each day has a full 24-hours. Days are long and hard. We are days away from Fall now, but the planting and weeding and harvesting continues onward. But, I hear and hope that it will slow down soon. I've threatened to till under the squash beds myself. And harvesting tomatoes in mid-September is just plain weird. But I'd still like to can a few more.

New England is a weird place for a Southern girl. So was New York City, but that's entirely different ballgame. It's a world of it's own- no matter where you are from. Although it's something I can't exactly lay my finger on, it's just not the South. It's in the style of farming, the old homes with huge porches, the way no one has central air-conditioning, and everyone wears NorthFace and Lands End clothing.

Communities seem different, not better, not worse, just more New England-ish, no doubt. Working on The Farm six days a week leaves very little room for getting out and doing anything, but I feel very much like I'm on the outside looking in. I imagine families grilling in those nice yards, and friends playing volleyball under those trees, and church groups having fall festivals with large pumpkins next to those steps. And I'll be observing it all. I miss my community.... But this time in my life has been wonderful in so many ways.  

I will be nice and cold and read to leave by mid-November. I am not strong enough to survive a New England winter. Litteraly, I'd probably lay down and just die. Have I mentioned we are twenty miles East of Vermont. Vermont in winter? No thank you. BUT Chris and I will be making our annual anniversary trip to see the leaves in a few weeks, before it's that cold. The leaves will be all around us. I actually ask Chris if he thought we would be "right in the middle of it all," as the season changed. He said we would, and I guess I should have known- but it seems so perfect. Too good to be true. Fall in upstate New York and I get to see it unfold since we are outside all day everyday.

I like making people smile when I tell them we do have kale at market. Or that yes, we have broccoli (finally). I love letting little girls dig through the yellow, red, orange and purple bell peppers and putting small, paper sacks of cherry tomatoes in the hands of a small boy. I like the regulars at market: chard man, lettuce lady, the woman to pokes every tomato, garlic guy and the bearded woman.

One of the highlights of my week is seeing Andrea when she and her mother come by the farm to pick up their CSA share (eight of the families pick up at the farm versus a drop of point). Andrea is about three and she loves "cherry 'matoes." I chat with her. I chat with her mom. Seamus the cat nudges his way in for attention. Andrea loves going through the box as soon as they get it out of the cooler. She names each veggies and asks the names of ones she does know (Bok Choi, chard, turnip, I mean come on!) I try to catch them each week- which isn't hard since we live in the basement / packing room ten steps away from the cooler.

People make me happy. I miss people. Chris: not so much.

Pictures from August

sunset after a good, long rain over the barn

a normal Chambers lunch (bell pepper, tomatoes, greens, cucumbers, bread, cheeses)

What's not to love?

hot HOT peppers

out for a ride

 colorful beets

We're still here

I realize it’s been awhile. However, I assume you know how it is out here on the farm. It’s harvest season. It’s busy. I’m knee deep in tomatoes and pepper and green beans. And now, above our little root cellar barn apartment, the barn is completely full of not only garlic, but onions, pumpkins and winter squash galore. They are very pretty though...

I thought I’d sort of deviate from the farm talk, and fill you in on mio.

What I’ve been wearing: SPF 30, Neosporin as hand cream, my tiny leaf necklace that Heidi gave me for Christmas, a motorcycle helmet from time-to-time, and more clothes than usual. I’ve actually worn wool socks and layered on three shirts already. It is still summer. I’ve got to make it eight more weeks. I’ve been warned it will be cold and wet and it might just snow. Oh, and I’ve been wearing food-prep gloves. Those hot peppers (jalapenos, big bomb, NuMex Joe, pablano, and even banana peppers) will eat through your skin. I have to take of my contacts at some point each day. Whew-wee.

What I’ve been eating: (I’ll spare you the list of farm veggies, although that’s most of my diet currently. And oh, so good. Blender full of salsa anyone? )But, I also like Stoneybrook Farms Greek frozen yogurt, even though a pint of it costs more than a half gallon of Bluebunny. Pumpkin granola. Ginger gold and Honeycrisp apples. Whole-wheat cous-cous (prepared with loads of farm veggies), cottage cheese, peanuts & candy corn by the handfuls (Do it. Go buys some and eat it.), and sweet potato chips. (There, I said it. Salty, crunchy, kettle style potato chips.)

What I’ve been reading: Whole Woman Homeopathy and Practical Homeopathy both of which I checked out from the public library. Being raised by a mother who practiced homeopathy and gave me little white pellets to nibble on from time to time- I was curious just what it was all about; the science and origin behind this sort of alternative medicine. I also have been having a wonderful time with Farm Fresh Flavors. I renewed it three times. It pretty much became my book. I really should just buy it. It’s a wonderful cookbook that is divided into chapters based on the main veggie ingredient. Perfect! I think I actually got food stains on the pages… BTW public libraries around here are amazing: lovely, well kept, up-to-date, nice facilities.

I also bought A Homemade Life at Barnes and Noble on our trip into the big city of Saratoga… It’s my sort of book that mixes memoir and recipes and life around the kitchen table. The author writes about the memories that certain dishes bring for her and how some foods become special to us all. Good easy read. Delicious sounding recipes.

Anne Lamott’s Grace Eventually, (Thoughts on Faith) because her short stories make me feel normal and blessed and safe. I love her writing and honesty and way that she can question God or the church and her own convictions but still be okay with simply trusting in the end. She’s the best. Find one of her books of short stories. Read it.

Consumer Report. It was in the mail. Farmer Thomas was out of town last week… Sue me.

And I’m still going strong with my read the Bible in a year…. Although currently I am two days behind.

What I’ve been watching: DVD’s of How I Met Your Mother (Season 4,5, and 6) and The Office (because that stuff never gets old. Michael Scott is just hilarious.) Summer turn to fall. Two different sets of chicks grow up, and get awkward, and change color

What I’ve been hearing: crickets, baby chicks, wheels turning onto a gravel drive, Seamus’s purring, the wind whistling in our window, leaves crunching underfoot, massive combines cutting hay and corn, joints popping, and geese flying south for the winter.

Being from the South the geese have not become a normal sound to me, still. When I hear them flying in that amazing V-formation, overhead, I have to pause and look up. It’s awe-inspiring. Last weekend Chris and I woke around 5:00AM to the sound of 15-20 geese flying by. Our window was open and it was the loveliest sound. Much better than some screaming alarm clock or buzzing cell phone chime. It was pleasant to rise to the honking call of onward.

Onward. Keep moving. We are almost there. The season is almost over. Beginning.
Onward.