Fall is Creeping In! How Do You Prepare for It?

One of our Multi - Herbed Fritattas - a great way to use your herbs!

It's hard to believe as we see a thermostat reach 91 degrees out in our garden but Fall is on its way folks and for the food obsessed, it's a busy time of year.  So, some musing on Fall . . .

After a weekend of peaches, pickles, okra, corn and green beans - all being "put up" in one manner or another - we know that we need to, very soon, start on tomatoes.  Whole, pureed, and some chopped up and frozen - with good tomatoes, the more is definitely the merrier.  The line up of jars filled with goodies in the basement is growing - a good sign for the cold months to come!

We also have to consider that in just a short few months we'll be "on our own" in the city - without our favorite Farmers Markets for a bit.  So, all the more reason to figure out how to hold on to a bit of deliciousness and freshness.  I know that some of us keep hardy herbs in pots in the kitchen window all through the winter - a really good idea if you can do it; the frozen ones have flavor, if no eye appeal, but there's something about just snipping a bit here and a bit there from a living plant when you are in the process of creation in the kitchen that just can't be replaced.

Our new composter - just right for a city sized "alley-way" is starting to produce some nice black loam, and some "tea".  We will have plenty of rich organic material for our garden - and probably every garden on the block at this rate!  It has been wonderful to have a use for all of the organic material we used to have to throw in the trash.  At some point, I hope to have more of a conversation about the importance of composting especially for city dwellers.

The garden itself starts to require a different kind of level of interaction at this time of year, too, doesn't it?  What we pay attention to now - and spend time on now - will have ramifications for the Spring and next year's growing season.  And now, when we go out the back door or onto the back deck we almost can feel the garden changing right in front of us. Our gardens are more dependent on us now than they are in "full bloom".

And, lastly, I don't know about you, but I have already started planning what I want to plant next year in the "mini-farm".  This year was really the first - and they are always experiments in the city, but now I have a better idea of what I want to grow - and most importantly, what has a good chance of a decent yield.

Tomorrow is Recipe Thursday.  What will you be making, and what will you be preserving as Fall creeps in?  Please share with your fellow foodies right here at The Foodist.

See you tomorrow!