Goodness :: Gracious

Where to start, dear friends.... 

The season is flying by and we're swimming hard to stay afloat. The food is being harvested at a steady clip, onions today, squash tomorrow. And the flowers are on fire. We are processing poultry , filling the freezer this week and next with fresh chicken. And, dare I gloat for a wee moment and say there are now 4 geese in there as well... hello Christmas Goose! 

All of our summer house guests have come and gone and the school bus arrived this morning taking along with it one sophomore girl, who was sad to say goodbye to her summer vacation. Now, amidst all the harvesting, hosting,

 food preserving and flower magic, we add on the hustle and carpooling that parents do to facilitate the interest of their children to the to-do list. 

I must confess, all I am dreaming about is the first frost, the colored leaves, the quiet of a snowy day. 

But then, I put my hands to those flowers and I'm back, skin in the game and loving every minute of it.

 The work is effective at keeping me in the present but in the sunrise moment between asleep and awake, when I'm emerging into another day and making sense of the list of to-do's in front of me, that's when I can conjure up the memory of waking up to crystals coating every leaf, snow piled high on the eaves outside the window and the slower pace of the off season. John likens the first frost to Christmas Day, an exit pass off our personal super highway. We never stop working, summer or winter, we just get to relax the pace. 

Last week marked the end of our 12 week flower CSA. We really enjoyed making weekly bouquets and we hope our flower shareholders enjoyed receiving them. Please provide us with feedback about your flower share experience as we would love to improve the offering and rely on your feedback to do so.

This week, we are playing host to Maine Farmland Trust's Forever Farm event. Please join us for dinner on Thursday, September 8th from 5-8. There will be live music and Maine grown food and drink. The event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC (gulp). We look forward to meeting new folks and seeing old friends come out and celebrate the work of the Maine Farmland Trust.

The Citizens for a Green Scarborough are sponsoring a movie at the Scarborough Library. On September 14th, join folks to watch and discuss A Chemical Reaction. 

This weeks harvest is abundant and colorful and includes:

Lettuce

Potatoes

Onions

Eggplant

Heirloom Tomatoes

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes

Yellow wax string beans

Peppers

Rainbow Chard

Acorn Squash

Radishes

Basil

Tomatillos (best used in Salsa Verde)

Blessings on the meal,

Stacy

PS....John and I have an little ongoing debate about how "flower-centric" my posts are...I say we show 'em the magic while its here and enjoy a little flower indulgence while we can.