Sunday, November 08, 2009

which comes first?

The sky was SO blue today, you would not know that we are in the month of November to look at it. The sky had the clear deep blue color of a May memory. Today I spent the afternoon cleaning up fallen leaves. We have had our first frost, but we have not seen the last of the harvest. There will be a few more weeks to gather a late summer sowing of carrots...

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yummy Nantes and Danvers...

these are still small and oh. so. tender. Steamed and served with butter and herbs, they taste wonderful. The tops have been nibbled by the rabbits that have been slipping through the fence. That is OK, I'll share.

Another late harvest comes from the stalk...

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I was never one to enjoy Brussel Sprouts as a child, but as my father used to tell me, "you will like them when you grow up." This also holds true for Eggplant. I guess I'm officially a grown up now.

My sister- has shared with me- a terrific recipe for brussel sprouts that involves garlic and hot pepper flakes with a lemon sauce. If you would like the recipe, let me know in the comment section. I'm sure she would not mind if I shared it with you.

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Last harvests are as much fun as the first harvest of fresh peas or lettuce...but they are a reminder that soon I won't be able to go out to the garden and pick my supper time vegetables for much longer.

Collecting seeds - another autumn chore that takes my mind back to spring. Firsts and Lasts tend to overlap. As I collect the nasturtium seed, I think of the nasturtium seeds that I planted in May. We have come full circle. Is a season starting or ending? Is summer ending? Winter beginning? It is a sort of chicken and egg question..which comes first?

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Our chicks are a month old...(oh my...they still don't have any names!) But they are healthy and strong and come running if you sing to them !

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20 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Oh Cyndy you have me giggling at the thought of you out in the garden singing to attract your chicks. It is good to see that they are thriving. Your harvest looks delicious. yummmmm.... I lvoe brussel sprouts but I haven't quite got the taste for eggplant. This must mean I am not quite grown up. tee hee...

Sharon said...

Lovely post. I love seeing photos of your garden, your harvests are comming to an end, and we are planting the main crops. Its fun being on the other side of the 'wheel'. And the chicks are cute. We have a clucky hen (my very first one) so I am letting her sit on 3 eggs (I don't know how reliable she will be, so I don't want to end up with 10 rotten eggs...)

Tammy said...

Wonderful harvest!
The chicks are adorable!!

Jody said...

I imagine fresh picked brussel sprouts taste a heck of alot better then the crappy ones I get here in the grocery stores!
My Dad always said the carrots and parsnips tasted sweeter when left in the ground thru a few frosts.

Valerie said...

I would love the brussel sprouts recipe, since there are some fresh ones in the fridge.

You've confirmed my suspicions that I'm the only grown up in the house (being the only one who likes eggplant and brussel sprouts).

Janice in GA said...

I could never stand brussels sprouts when I was growing up, or even as an adult. But I make a point of trying things I don't like every few years, just to see if my tastes have changed. :)

I found a recipe a while back for brussel sprouts cooked with nutmeg that made me think "Hmm, I could definitely eat and ENJOY these."

Pat K said...

So I have to ask. What does one sing to chicks in the morning? Or the evening? Opera? Nursery rhymes? What gets them moving?

elizabeth said...

I have a feeling that if I tried fresh brussel sprouts, I'd love them. Maybe one day...

~ Phyllis ~ said...

I love Brussel sprouts. I have a feeling your's will be yummy.
Your little chicks are so cute.
When I was very young I would help my Memaw with her chickens. I'm the one that would gather the eggs.
I love holding the little babies.

Gingerbreadshouse7 said...

Cyndy, I loved you post today..I loved seeing the harvest..the carrots look delicious and the Brussel spouts recipe sounds delicious...send me one when you get the time...I'm so jealous of your little chicks! I wish they were mine...I didn't think you could raise them so late in the season...I'm tempted to get a few and sneak raising them ..Ginny

thecrazysheeplady said...

LOVE the basket and the produce it's carrying! I really blew it with my gardening this year :-(.

Leslie Shelor said...

Chicks! I'm green! Lovely last things from your garden!

Elizabeth said...

I'd love to see the recipe, if you and she don't mind!

Judy said...

My garden is done and I am official eating the cannings now. When I saw the chicks all I could think was the "one of these things ain't like the other". They are adorable.

judy said...

Went to pick the chard and found that the solar electric fence had been left off. The deer got everything to the ground. That makes it officially over for the year.

Kristi aka Fiber Fool said...

Lovely! We've had two snows already so there are no more harvests in our future. Thanks for sharing yours!

Cathy said...

Love the idea of singing to your chicks. "lay lady lay" probably worked for their mothers.

Harvest season is over here, but pumpkins are still in some fields.

Dawn said...

Lovely late harvest! Cute chicks! I'm as curious as everyone else .... what do you sing to the little ones??

Cady May said...

Lovely post (your carrots are more even in size than mine ; )
This time of year always feels like the beginning of a new year to me, even before I learned that halloween marked the druid new year, or that it fell half way between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice (I love marking those halfway points)
Even before knowing those things, this time of year always felt special, like a little spiritual changing point in the seasons squeezed in there, that should be marked with some little special holiday (the whole pilgrim thing seems a little late, doesn't it? like and afterthought holiday, or something, like giving thanks should be in early november) For me, I wonder not which came first, but what to call that time after the leaves all fall, but before it gets cold and snowy and turns from more brownish red to blueish gray...late fall just doesn't have the verbal shine it deserves, you know?

vanessa said...

may i please have the brussel sprout recipe?

those chicks are adorable!

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