“A quiet secluded life in the country,
with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good,
and who are not accustomed to have it done to them;
then work which one hopes may be of some use;
then rest,
nature,
books,
music,
love for one's neighbor
— such is my idea of happiness.”
Leo Tolstoy
The gardens are still here, even though we left them for 10 days. That's kind of comforting. They are beginning to take on that distinctive look of a fall garden. Not as pretty as they were in mid-summer, but still bountiful.
I was wondering if the Guatemalan squash would be ripe when we returned. I picked one today, cut it open and made this recipe for Iranian Vegetable Stew. I've been saving it for this very day. We'd purchased some dried limes (a first for us) and this recipe looked perfect to me. Squash, potatoes, tomatoes, dill, and spinach from the garden. Very nice. Isn't the skin of the Guatemalan squash beautiful?
Various bees and wasps were still working hard, especially loving the native wildflowers.
Maybe they have seen the weather forecast. Maybe they have their own internal forecaster and I need to pay attention to them instead of Anthony on TV.
I am happy with our decision to do a second planting of salad greens. I guess I should call this one "salad reds". This one does not seem to attract gnawing insects like some of the others do.
When I picked the green and red cabbages in the summer, I left a bunch of leaves around the stem. If the conditions are favourable, the cabbages will put out new heads. It is working this year. We'll have a couple of tiny salads from these babies soon.
Not sure if the red cabbage will form a head, but finely chopped red cabbage leaves are wonderful in a mixed salad too.
Those colours!!!
I used Pixelmator Pro to pick out some of the colours in just this one cabbage. There are dozens and dozens of distinct colours in this one plant. Amazing!
Our second crop of raspberries is struggling. The Japanese beetles weakened the plants. You win some, you lose some. Today's sponsor: the unexpected burst of flavour in a September raspberry. Your mouth is watering.
I am glad to be home to my somewhat secluded life in the country.
“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.”
William Shakespeare
Comments