Finally, September

Maybe it's just me, but this August seemed like the longest month ever. I blame work stress; a lot of teachers and other staff members have told me they feel the same way this year. In any case, I'm so happy that September has finally arrived! No matter what the temperatures are like, once September begins it seems like fall to me. 

I've been waiting on Tom to make his annual comment about "mists and mellow fruitfulness" but unless I've missed it (which is possible) then I've beaten him to it!

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
  Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
  With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
  And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
    To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
  With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
    For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
  Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
  Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
  Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
    Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
  Steady thy laden head across a brook;
  Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
    Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
  Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
  And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
  Among the river sallows, borne aloft
    Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
  Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
  The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
    And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

-John Keats

Now I'm in the mood for changing leaves, cool nights, camping trips, soups and chili instead of salads and grilled meats, and mountain apples arriving in the farmers' markets. Speaking of apples, this showed up on my Facebook "memories" from four years ago today:

My first (and so far, only) attempt at making baked apple roses. I wasn't entirely satisfied with how they ended up looking, but they tasted great! I think slicing the apples thinner before wrapping them in pastry would result in a prettier rose shape; maybe I'll try making them again later this month. It was fun to do. 

Another thing to like about September is that it's time to start decorating with things like pumpkins, gourds, colorful dried ears of corn, and those ubiquitous flowers of autumn here in the south: mums. The farm stand I like to visit (it's only two miles from my house) just got in their first shipment of them yesterday.

Of course, lots of flowers do well around here during our slow, long, mild South Carolina autumn. Even roses often rebloom (after the awful summer heat subsides) this time of year.

Next week middle school and high school football resume. Although I couldn't care less about the actual sport of football, there's something about a game that stirs old, old sense memories of growing up for me. The sound and feel and smell of a football stadium on a chilly autumn night. Bright lights, school band playing, climbing up high to the top of the bleachers for the best view, the smell of popcorn and nachos, then the excitement when the game starts and the announcer calls the plays. My house is close enough to one of the high schools that we can faintly hear the distant sound of the home games while they're going on. It always makes me smile.  Also, in the five years that I've worked at a middle school, I've occasionally stayed late to watch one of our team's home games. It's a fun seasonal activity to do occasionally, like watching one of little Prophet's baseball games in the spring! 

What else? There's so much to like about the arrival of fall!  Since next Monday is Labor Day, there's a three-day weekend coming up. That's going to be a really welcome rest. Then at the beginning of next month we'll have a full week off for fall intercession. I'm really looking forward to that! 

What do you like about the arrival of September?

From the camera roll this week...

The zinnias in front of our school are blooming again this year. They reseeded themselves!

George and Ginger playing with one of the toys Parsnip sent! They play like wild beasts every single night after supper. 

Did anyone else see the beautiful July full moon last weekend? It was almost as bright as the sun when it first appeared in the East.

Heirloom and Hybrid tomatoes at the farm stand.

More vegetables from the farm stand being transformed into dinner.

Banana Pudding: a delicious, cool dessert in the summertime.

A friend sent me small banana tree shoots he dug up from around his pond. They're growing like crazy in the large pots I put them in. They're bound for the sheltered South-facing wall in the back yard, next to our Pomegranate tree. You can also see the large leaves on the fig cuttings I'm growing out in this photo. By next spring I'll have a good size Brown Turkey fig tree to plant in the back yard, too.

My orchids are still happy on the back porch.

The ficus tree is also growing well on the porch. It's going to be difficult fitting it back in the house this winter!

Our five Crepe Myrtle trees are finally blooming!

My favorite kind of weekend!

It's been a wonderful weekend, filled with lots of the people and things I love most. I am so lucky.

Yesterday morning began with meeting up with some book club friends at 8am for coffee, then we were among the first to arrive at our county library's big annual used book sale. What fun that was! I was on the lookout for a few specific authors and titles, which I didn't find, but I did leave with two hardcover and two paperback books for the grand total of $2.50. One was an old book titled "The History of the Fragrant Rose" which looks like it will be a nice addition to my gardening collection.

Pictured here alongside the David Austin catalogue that was already residing on my nightstand, ironically enough. 

After buying our books, my friends and I drove downtown to the city's Saturday morning market to have breakfast and shop. Several local vendors set up their wares under tents from 9am-1pm in a large parking area. It's mostly farmers selling local vegetables as well as wonderful grass fed meats, milk, cheeses, and eggs, but a couple of tents were selling crafts, food, and coffee.

See the lady in the above picture, wearing jeans and turning towards me? She's part of a farming family who were frequent customers of mine at the bookstore, and some of my very favorite people from those days.  As soon as I snapped this picture she spotted me and ran over and gave me a great big hug! I haven't seen any of them since I got my new job, and running into her was a real treat.

Her family sells wonderful local meats raised humanely on well run, all-organic farms. I had to buy a few things from them, including sausages, a gallon of rich grass fed milk, and a dozen fresh eggs.

Speaking of eggs, the market manager was under a tent cooking up breakfast frittatas with local eggs and veggies. Here's mine cooking. It had chorizo sausage, zucchini, minced sweet potato, diced heirloom tomato, kale, and a sprinkling of soft white farmer's cheese to finish it off. The guy wrapped it in a small, warmed tortilla when it was done, and it was absolutely delicious! Cost: $4.00

Also for sale: the best, sweetest, most delicious strawberries I've ever had. I bought one of these big green buckets and I haven't stopped popping them in my mouth yet!

The same guy selling the strawberries had heirloom tomatoes for sale. He said they're still coming from Florida at the moment, but the local tomatoes will be ready in three more weeks, give or take a few days. I love a good tomato more than most things in life, so I bought a big bagful of them......

......and made myself the quintessential Southern lady lunch later that afternoon. Behold the makings of the classic Tomato Sandwich:

It has to be Duke's mayonnaise, and it has to be soft white bread. The only other ingredients are a perfect ripe tomato and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. That's it: perfection.

Since yesterday was also Cinco de Mayo, I had my friend Martina over last night for margaritas. We had hoped Marla could join us, for the food if not the tequila, but she wasn't feeling up to it at the last minute due to an ear infection. Which was just as well, since we wanted to discuss a small party we're planning to have for her and the new baby this summer. We were also able to drink all the margaritas we wanted without feeling guilty doing it in front of her!

And we did have a few! I think the only things that saved me from a hangover this morning were using only good quality tequila, triple sec, fresh lime juice, and ice for the drinks and eating lots of fresh veggies, chips, guacamole, and strawberries while drinking. We both got a bit tipsy, and it was a lot of fun. A perfect way to finish out a great Saturday! 

How has your weekend been?

Fall Plant and Flower Show

This weekend is the annual Pee Dee State Farmer's Market's annual fall plant and flower show. It's a great time to plant perennials in South Carolina, so there are lots of them for sale with vendors from all around the eastern part of the state. Of course, there are also fruits and vegetables for sale, and fair food, and crafts. It's usually a nice time. The weather is gorgeous this weekend and perfect for the show, so my mom came to visit and we went and had a look around. I took a few pictures to share.

Blue sky autumn day.

Cheerful fall wreaths!

There were so many pumpkins. 

Remember kids: all worm castings are NOT the same!

I ended up buying a pot of these marigolds (and a small pumpkin).

Perennials for sale.

I'm not sure what these flowers are, but they're very pretty!

Beautiful fresh beets and sweet potatoes.....

...and "country grapes" for $1.99/pd.

Speaking of country grapes...!

1. Apples from the mountains of North Carolina.

Just a simple day in the life...

Today has been an average day off for me, and just the kind of day I like.

First, I slept in until 9:30 and then took my time reading blogs with a cup of coffee. Then I showered, dressed, and picked up the house a little bit. I also finished a couple of chapters of the novel I'm reading at lunchtime.

Then I took a trip to the goodwill store to buy cheap blankets for the dogs' bed. George will chew up and destroy nice dog pillows, and we gave up on using them ages ago. He'll eventually chew up blankets, too, but I can always go buy a stack of them for $2 or $3 each and replace them once they're threadbare. Poor Ginger hasn't had a really comfortable place to sleep since George arrived. She had a wonderful doggie mattress along with thick fluffy comforters before he came along. Those are days gone by, George being the chewing machine that he is!

While browsing for the blankets, I found a pretty serving platter and a couple of really nice gardening reference books.  I ended up getting the books, the platter, and 4 large blankets, all for $20. Not bad.

Once I left the goodwill and headed towards the farm stand down the road, the wind started gusting, the temperature dropped 25 degrees, and rain started to pour. I feared hail because of the sudden drop in temperature, but it only rained. I sat in my car for awhile at the market trying to wait it out, but eventually I got out and ran in to make my purchases. I only got a little bit wet!

The small market is so pretty this time of year, with all the flowers for sale.

And I'm glad I went, because I got some nice stuff for our dinner tonight:

I've had steaks marinating all day, and now that the rainstorm is over (and the sun is back out) we can grill them just like we had planned. Gregg will be home from work soon, and we'll light the grill and sit outside and talk. I'll make myself a cocktail to take out with me. Since today is Cinco de Mayo, I thought about stopping by the liquor store to get tequila for margaritas, but it seemed silly when I already have good whiskey and can make whiskey sours with it. I like them just as well, and decided it was probably best to save the money. After all, we're planning a vacation next month to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and so should be saving our pennies where we can! It's going to be an anniversary trip for us (we'll have been married for ten years!) and I'm really looking forward to it. Which reminds me of something else I did today: spent some time searching the internet for the perfect place to stay up there. It's going to be a nice trip. The Outer Banks is one of the most beautiful places on the East Coast.

That's it for my day off. Have a good weekend, everyone!

September market foods in South Carolina

This is what's on offer at the farm stand down the road right now.

Muscadine and scuppernong grapes are grown all over the state in backyards and small commercial  vineyards alike. You can often find the vines growing wild in abandoned lots or along old fences. They're easy to cultivate and make delicious jellies and wine.

http://gardenandgun.com/article/scuppernongs

http://doctorschar.com/features/muscadine-grapes-vitis-rotundifolia/

Apples are just starting to arrive in the markets. They are grown in the mountains of North Carolina.

I bought about 8 pounds of apples of mixed varieties. I'm planning to slow cook them in the crockpot with brown sugar, butter, and spices to make a kind of chunky apple butter/apple sauce.

There are still plenty of summer squash, zucchini, and fresh green beans left for sale. New sweet potatoes have arrived, and small mild Vidalia onions are pretty much a year-round staple. I also picked up a 2 lb bag of stone ground, locally produced grits.

For tonight's dinner, we had grilled Atlantic salmon. This picture doesn't look all that great, because the fish fell apart when I moved it to a serving plate. But trust me, it was delicious! I grilled the filets wrapped in parchment paper with butter, lemon slices, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, parsley, and a hint of Cajun seasonings. Served with wild rice, it was wonderful.

I steamed the green beans and then sautéed them with bacon. Because bacon just makes everything better.

Farmer's Market goodies!

Last week while on vacation I made two separate trips to my local farmer's market. I shop there as much as possible in the summer, and it's one of my very favorite things to do.

 I'm a huge believer in eating local. It's better for the environment, since the closer to home food is produced the less fossil fuels are used to transport it. It's better for the local economy and small farmers, keeping the money in our community and out of the hands of big agribusiness. It's better for our health, since food that doesn't have to travel long distances can be picked when it's at it's peak of freshness and ripeness. And food that is in season and lovingly grown just tastes better! Our market is a wonderful resource for great food and for building relationships with the people who grow it.

Here's a little pictorial stroll through the Pee Dee farmer's market on a beautiful summer day!

 

 

 

Loads and loads of early tomatoes. Most are still coming from John's Island, SC this early in the year. 

 

 

 

 

Locally grown heritage pork sausages!

 Fresh eggs, cheeses, and other meats are available, too.

 

 

We still have rice plantations in South Carolina! How cool is that?

 

 

Pickles of all varieties abound....

 

 

 

...and this is the South. You have to have lots and lots of places to buy these:

  

 

Speckled butter beans, like the ones here,
 nearly killed me when I was growing up. My grandfather Lewis ("Pa") grew what seemed like acres of these, and expected the entire family to help him with planting, weeding, picking, shelling, blanching, and freezing the harvest. We always had enough to fill everyone's chest freezers with quarts and quarts of them to eat through the winter, but at the time everyone would have chosen to forgo some of the beans for less work in the summer! I'm not sure what was worse, picking them in the blazing heat of July (stooped over the low growing bushes) or shelling them afterwards. I well remember how sore and stained your fingernails and cuticles would be after a whole day of shelling, but the heat and insects and bending over involved in picking made that an equally distasteful job! My grandfather expected his children (my mom and aunt) and their children and spouses (my aunts, uncles, and cousins) as well as grandma to spend a couple of intense weeks in midsummer helping bring in his garden's bounty. No one minded things like corn, tomatoes, squash, onions, etc...but the butter beans and field peas....well, those were another story! Now, of course, I look back and admire his dedication to growing so much food for his family every year, as well as the fact that he continued doing so well into his old age. I never see butter beans without thinking of (and missing) my Pa.

 

 

 

 

 This high school girl had a sweet, outgoing personality to match her sunshiny smile! Lots of farmer's kids work summers at their family farm booth. Not only are they the most polite, mature, friendly kids you'll ever meet...there's not an iphone in sight. Amazing!

 

And oh, the flowers for sale!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've watched this young man grow up. He's the grandson of farmers that I've bought vegetables from for years. In fact, I remember the day he was born. His grandfather was working alone in the booth that morning, and when I asked about his wife, he told me she was visiting their baby grandson that had just been born. The little guy is growing up fast! He was almost too shy to let me take his picture. I had to talk him into it. (Just look at that bashful sideways grin!)

 

 

 

 

 

Hyman Vineyard's booth. They sell local muscadine wines, as well as jellies, preserves, sauces, and juices. The wine is my favorite though! 

 

                                                                                                                           

 

  

Seafood is brought in fresh from the coast, but only on weekends. Unfortunately I was shopping on a Monday!

 

The early peaches that are available now are juicy and divine. Tomorrow I'll post pictures and a recipe for the blackberry peach dumpling cobbler I made with fruit purchased on this market trip. It tasted just like summer!

 

 

As I was leaving the market (laden with goodies) I had to stop and take a picture of this beautiful afternoon sky.

 

And here is one final photo: most of my haul, piled on the kitchen counter when I got home: