Oh my goodness, this past weekend the weather cooled to low 80’s for daytime temps that dipped a toe into the 50’s overnight with a deliciously cool breeze. Days when it is almost too cool to linger in the shade, stepping out to feel the sun wrap around your shoulders like a comforting hug. The kind of weather that awakens the desire to light candles, drink heavily spiced warm beverages, bake loaves and loaves of bread and create dinners of soul comforting warmth with rich flavors, slow cooked ingredients and leisurely enjoyed. When windows can be thrown open to let the cool night temps seep in so you can once again snuggle under the covers and warm your cold toes on the hubby’s heater of a body (only me??)
There is just something about this time of year, the crisp mornings fragrant with fresh dew, taking longer to shake the cloak of night off as the sun lazily rises over the horizon. Sunrises and sunsets both aglow with the warm hues of Autumn. The evenings growing darker earlier, urging everyone inside just a bit earlier each night.
This year, Autumn has new meaningful signals added as we prepare and plant our second fall garden, this time with more thought and planning in place.
The beds have all been cleared, turned and refreshed with nutrient rich, organic garden soil.
Our first solely heirloom planting of seeds and transplants have been nestled within this generous gift from a new farmer friend, soil that smells rich with the promise of bountiful harvests for the coming season.
There is a new, weight in the air of this particular fall,
as we near the end of the season for our first home-raised meat birds
and watch as the turkeys continue to grow, mature and introduce us to their calm, and sometimes comical, character.
(Strutting for his first time at 3 months old, both the bronze turkey and the meat birds were less than impressed. We humans, well, let’s just say it is a new day when you hear a turkey call from your backyard flock for the first time)
this past weekend was just a taste of my favorite season as it continues to struggle to grab a foothold against summer and it’s blazing triple digit temperatures. A tug o’ war of sorts as we now bounce between the two seasons. One can only hope Fall will eventually out muscle the ever-increasing strength of Summer, pushing it back so we can enjoy more than a few weeks of this, my favorite season of the year.
Cluck & Hoe 