Back to School and Just in Time

We're still adjusting to the return to school schedule. There were no back to school photos with happy, smiling, well-coiffed children standing proudly with their new book bags in tow, in front of the house this year. Nope. It didn't happen. Instead, two teens headed off to school, and made it to the bus stop just in time. Just in time. Yes, that's how we do it. Not long after they left, did I look around at some of the clutter inside and all of the tasks outside that still needed to be done. It was then that I decided to step back and take a breath. It would all get done, or nearly all of what needed to be done, and it might happen-- just in time.

Elderberries and spices produce a beneficial syrup

 to boost immune systems

My back to school and work list included returning to weekly menus and quick and easily prepared meals,  granola and yogurt for quick breakfasts, and stocking up for cold and flu season with homemade elderberry syrup. Chicken coops need to be deep cleaned too.

Last autumn, I made a batch of fire cider. The tonic, made popular by Rosemary Gladstar is said to boost natural health processes and stimulate digestion. It was so potent, that aside from a delicate drizzle over my salad greens, I couldn't bring myself to drink the ultra garlicky concoction!  This year, I've decided to forgo making fire cider and stick with elderberry syrup.

September was busy! Even though our summer garden wasn't as productive as last year's, it is now the first week of October, and we are still behind with preserving our harvest.  We don't want to waste our efforts and foods will go bad if we do not freeze, can, pickle or dry them quickly. One of our goals this year was to learn about alternatives to preserving foods without an actual root cellar. We plan to set up storage in our garage soon for potatoes and our small harvest of sugar pie pumpkins.  

Herbs are hanging just about everywhere and both dehydrators are humming along. I have begun my annual competition with the squirrels to gather chestnuts. They're a favorite in our household and are ground into a delicious chestnut butter, and flour that we use to make shortbread cookies and homemade pasta.

We did  a quick processing and freezing of Concord grape juice which I plan to return to later this autumn to make grape jelly and canned juice. Note to self: two bushels of grapes is too many! As soon as we managed to get the grapes under control, tomatoes needed to be addressed, and resulted in  seventeen quarts. Salsa and giardiniera are next on the canning list, along with transforming three bushels of apples that we picked last weekend into sauce, juice, dehydrated slices, apple cider, jelly and a batch of apple scrap vinegar for cleaning.  If you feel like putting your apple peels to use, you can read about making your own vinegar here: Apple Scrap Vinegar

Our second freezer is now brimming with vegetables, fruits and a side of pork that we purchased locally. We're hoping that with the pantries and freezers full, our visits to the stores for the next several months will be fewer. 

As our attention shifts to the indoors, we are still in the garden though. Our late season plantings of broccoli rabe, cilantro, dill, green beans, radishes, cucumbers are looking great. We have our eye on this week's dropping temperatures which may result in our first frost. Fingers crossed for our very first autumn harvest. 

Cooler weather inspires me to bake more than I usually do and to plug in the slow cooker. Before I sat down to write one morning, I loaded it up with pork chops, homemade sourdough stuffing and a generous handful of dried sage and apples from our pantry shelves. The kitchen smelled delicious!

Every autumn, it seems I am inspired once again when I see fields of sunflowers, vines heavy with grapes, late raspberries on the bushes, pumpkins and apples partnered with crisper cooler weather. My spirit seems to re-energize  just long enough to get the jobs done and just in time, it seems, for the winter break ahead.