So, the hustle is on. This time of year is ridiculous and I often wonder “why to do I grow food?” All I’ve done for the last three weeks is harvest. It’s back breaking and consuming, leaving very little time for anything else until the dent has been made. We keep our head down and get it done as fast as we can. The weeks have included everything from tomatoes and peppers to pears and berries to squash and pole beans to cucumbers and cabbage. We’ve also had rows and rows of basil to process into pestos and corn to cut off the cob for chowders. We’ve roasted hundreds of pounds of heirloom tomatoes and made them into sauces and bases for soups. The pickling of cucumbers has been a challenge as we are in year two of fighting off the blankety blank blank squirrels in the hood who keep stealing their new favorites; cucumbers, beans and yellow zucchini. We did manage to beat them to the vines on a few different days so I could can jars of pickles and several varieties of relish. whew. Pears started falling early August, so we kept up as best we could by peeling mountains of fall fruit for jams and grilling equally as many for our grilled pear and butternut bisque that comes out in November for the Thanksgiving holiday. We harvested garlic and dried it in the sun ~ it’s beautiful! Then there’s the peppers. It’s not been our biggest year for tomatoes, but the score on peppers was huge. We’ve been harvesting and roasting poblanos for weeks, along with Anaheims, Serranos, jalapeños and bell peppers. These are preserved for many of our soups, such as Cuban Black Bean, Pozoles, Smoked Ham & Hatch Pepper Chowder ~ to mention a few.  I’ve also made a good amount of chive butter, basil butter, tarragon butter, mint, chive and dill oils. The top-notch flavors these butters and oils infuse into a quick dressing or sauce is not to be matched by anything store-bought. Next up is the harvesting of potatoes and winter squash. I am most excited about the butternut and Delicata ~ my favorites!

 

So you get the picture. It’s never a dull day this time of year. And to answer my own question, I grow food because I love every aspect. I love planning the gardens and planting the seeds. I love nurturing the growth and watching plants mature into their own to produce gorgeous foods for us. I love looking at all the vibrant colors from my kitchen windows. I love spending early mornings walking in between the rows, taking a photo now and again of the plants showcasing stunning fruits and flowers ~ and the bees! I love how our garden invites them to this pollinated ambrosia buffet that keeps them fat and happy. I love just admiring the abundance of what we have at our finger tips. To be able to provide foods for my family and friends and the Soupers who are a part of Pepper & Salt Kitchen means everything to me. I am grateful. Even after all these years of growing foods, I am still so amazed by it all. And, despite how much I whine about the endless days of harvesting, I love every aspect.

 

Cheers to September and all the Virgos out there! 🙂

 

 

• Portland State University (PSU) Farmers Market: Saturdays, 8:30 am – 2 pm (Year-round).
• Lake Oswego Farmers Market: Starts May 9, Saturdays 8:30 AM–1:30 PM at Millennium Plaza Park.
• Oregon City Farmers Market: Summer market now open, Saturdays 9 AM–1 PM at Green Lot #1.
• Milwaukie Sunday Farmers Market: Now open, Sundays 9:30 AM–2 PM.
• Hollywood Farmers Market: Saturdays, 8 am–1 pm (April–Dec).
• St. Johns Farmers Market: Saturdays 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (Starts May 4).
• Shemanski Park Farmers Market: Wednesdays, 10 AM–2 PM (May–Oct).
• King Farmers Market: Sundays, 10 AM–2 PM (May–Nov).