Henny Penny Farmette

My summer garden is wild and chaotic and bountiful at the beginning of the season. You’ll find fruit trees, vegetables, vines of melons, corn, and perennial lavender and other showy herbs and flowers. Like a grand dame of faded elegance, the garden has matured and looks a bit weary and spent now that Labor Day approaches.

Just because the peak growing season is coming to an end, it’s not the end of garden chores. The following tasks can be started now.

HARVEST AND STORE

Heirloom butternut squash and sugar pumpkins

For some crops, the harvesting goes on. Examples include tomatoes, potatoes, melons, and winter squashes like Butternut that store well. If you haven’t already harvested the garlic, it’s a good time to do that.

Cut sunflower seed heads and place them in a warm area to dry.  Collect seeds from cosmos, nasturtiums, and other flowers to preserve for next year’s garden. Work out storage options, especially for food items to be harvested.

Snip summer table grapes and other varieties if they are ripe . . . or let them hang a while longer for extra sweetness.

These Merlot grapes will turn deep purple and taste quite sweet when ripe

CLEAR BEDS

Depleted, dying, or dried annuals can be dug, pulled, and composted now. If you plan to let the garden rest, plant a cover crop so the ground doesn’t become hard scrabble. The cover crop will feed the soil.

DO FALL PLANTING

If you intend to do a fall planting, take time now to enrich the earth with amendments. Turn and rake the garden soil. Put plants directly into the prepared earth and water well to get them off to a good start.

Lettuce and other greens  are easily grown in raised beds

For quick second crop before the weather turns cold, plant greens such as spinach, kale, and arugula. Cool season crops like beets, broccoli, and cabbage can go directly into the ground now, too.

CUT FLOWER AND SEED HEADS

Cut flower heads of hydrangeas for drying. Insert plant markers near peonies and other perennials that will die completely back during winter. Gather bunches of mint and other herbs, tie with string, an hang in a cool, dark place to dry.

CREATE MULCH

Designate an area to create a new compost pile. Use garden detritus and fall leaves as the trees begin to drop their canopies to enter winter dormancy. The resulting mulch will enrich the soil for next year’s garden.

Store onions in burlap bags; pomegranates keep in the refrigerator for up a month

CHECK ON FALL PRODUCE

Pomegranates, persimmons, and pumpkins will soon be ripening. Ensure that these plants continue to get water. Check for pests and any signs that might indicate nutrient deficiencies that could show up in the leaves. Figure out your options for storing or gifting excess fruits and veggies. For example, pomegranates keep well in the fridge or remove the seeds and put into bags for freezing. Save  and dry rinds for potpourri.

TURN THE SOIL IN GROW BOXES

Aerate and amend soil in grow boxes and raised beds for cool season crops. Do these chores before the rainy season and cool weather arrives. Your garden, like a young maiden who flourishes from attention, will produce bountiful vegetables, fruits, berries, and flowers during its next growing season.

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If you enjoy reading about farmette topics, gardening, and keeping chickens and honeybees, check out my series of cozy mysteries from Kensington Publishing in New York.

Click on this link: http://tinyurl.com/ya5vhhpm

The newest offering in the Henny Penny Farmette of cozy mysteries

My newest nonfiction book  is published by Adams Media/Simon & Schuster: http://tinyurl.com/y9vfw2t9

Anyone can find peace, clarity, and focus…all it takes is a moment

Even in the wrong bowl, a trifle makes an elegant offering among Thanksgiving pies

On Thanksgiving, our family is usually grouped in the kitchen working our magic on individual dishes for our communal feast. But this year, things were different. My daughter is recovering from emergency surgery and her hubby has been trying to get over a bout of pneumonia. Their twin daughters had just come home from college, so when my daughter asked me if I would mind planning and shopping for the whole meal and then cooking it, I jumped at the chance.

My enthusiasm was not dampened by the fact that I was working on a new book and writing it against a “slam” deadline. Though this deadline is tighter than usual, I enjoy the topic, so it’s not really work. Ah, but there are other things to do as well.  With the cold weather and the rain, I’m keeping a close eye on my plants, chickens, and bees. Still, Thanksgiving offered me a break from the norm. My daughter asked me to help make this holiday special and I wasn’t about to let her down. As it turns out, serving as the family chef lightened my heart and gave me the opportunity to be mindful of each special moment in our Thanksgiving day.

There is always a passion for pecan pie in our family

Although I intended to do the cooking myself and had already baked the pumpkin and pecan pies and had whipped up a layered trifle for dessert, I asked my beautiful, brilliant granddaughters for help. There were sweet potatoes to peel, green beans to prepare, cornbread to be made, herbs to chop, and the turkey to be stuffed and cooked.

By two o’clock, the table was set, the food laid out, and the feast begun. We offered thanks for our blessings and asked for God’s grace on others and especially family members who hadn’t made the trip this time. Then, we made a special request for good health. The twins and I had used natural ingredients imbued with love for our food offerings and so believed that our gifts would put their mom and dad on the road to health in no time.

Today–Black Friday–I’m back to writing my book and feeling confident about the direction I’m going as well as the hours and minutes I have left to get there. And honestly, I’d rather be writing than shopping.

Our pumpkin pies feature leaves made from pate brisee dough, brushed with egg, and sprinkled with sugar before baking; they’re attached after the pie is baked.

Tonight, we’re going to eat leftovers with the addition of a simple winter salad–seeds from a ripe pomegranate, sections of a tangerine or two, slices of blood orange and a ripe pear tossed into some fresh greens along with small chunks of goat cheese and walnuts–drizzled with a toasted sesame dressing. And best of all, I can pluck most of the fruit walking around the farmette after I check on the plants, the bees, and the chickens. There’s work to do–plenty of it. But the way I see it, I’m honored to do work that blesses both the giver and the receiver.

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Enjoy reading about farming topics? Check out my cozy mysteries–A BEELINE TO MURDER and also THE MURDER OF A QUEEN BEE  (both in the Henny Penny Farmette series from Kensington Publishing).

These novels are chocked full of recipes, farming tips, chicken and beekeeping tips, sayings and, of course, a charming cozy mystery. For more info, click on the links under the pictures.

The books are available through online retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, and Walmart as well as from traditional bookstores everywhere.

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This debut novel launched the Henny Penny Farmette series of mysteries and sold out its first press run. It’s now available in mass market paperback and other formats.

See, http://tinyurl.com/h4kou4g

NEWLY RELEASED! This, the second cozy mystery in the Henny Penny Farmette series, is garnering great reviews from readers and industry publications.

Family and friends may love the hustle and bustle of holiday activities but often are too tired at the end of the day to cook. There’s a simple solution. Before leaving the house, someone needs to assemble a stew or meal that simmers all day in a slow cooker.

A hearty bean and beef stew is garnished with a dash of extra virgin olive oil, Italian parsley, and coarsely ground black pepper

The process is simple. Choose your meal, put the ingredients in a slow cooker, turn it on, and forget about it until you are ready to feed your gang at the end of the day.

Slow cookers are terrific tools for making tasty stews like apple chicken, Mexican pork and hominy, and red beans with Cajun  sausages. Or, make a corned beef and cabbage dish with carrots and potatoes. Beef stroganoff, pepper steak, and even clam chowder or a fish stew taste sublime when cooked slowly for several hours.

Serve your hot meal alongside a simple salad. Choose perhaps broccoli slaw with chopped apples and pears, segments of seedless tangerines, and a handful of sliced almonds. Drizzle or spritz with Asian Sesame Ginger dressing. Put out slices of French bread and possibly a platter of cheese.

Right before serving the meal, sprinkle the hot food with some fresh herbs, a dash of olive oil, some shaved cheese, or coarsely ground black pepper. What could be easier?

For more delicious farmhouse recipes, tips for keeping honeybees and chickens, growing heirloom vegetables, and tending fruit trees, check out my latest book, A BEELINE TO MURDER.

Released in hardcover, the book makes a great gift for holidays, birthdays, and other celebratory events. Available online and a brick-and-mortar bookstores everywhere. See, http://tinyurl.com/p8d6owd

The first cozy mystery in the Henny Penny Farmette mystery series by Meera Lester, from Kensington Books

French sugar pumpkins are small to mid-size–perfect for pies

This time of year the French sugar pumpkins, persimmons and pomegranates are ready to harvest and that means it’s also time to plant cool season crops.

My summer onions formed large bulbs that I have already harvested; it’s time to replace them with bunching onions

Yesterday I turned the dirt in one of my large planting boxes, added in some aged manure and other soil amendments, and planted  red and yellow onions for soups and salads during the fall and winter. I harvested seed from my summer onions and during the winter months will grow the seed in flats for spring planting.

The cool days ahead are perfect soup days and that means carrots, fennel, cilantro, cauliflower, potatoes, and bok choy will also find a place in my fall and winter garden.

In other raised beds and boxes, I’m planting heirloom lettuces, radishes, and spinach. These traditional salad ingredients are best grown during the fall or early spring as hot weather tends to make them bolt.

The lettuces are already easy to grow in boxes with good soil

The pumpkins are ready for pie-making and Halloween carving. The persimmons are perfect for custards or for eating fresh when absolutely ripe (otherwise, the fruits are so tart they will make you pucker). And those lovely red pomegranate seeds are delicious eaten raw or tossed into salads.

For a list of Northern California cool seasons vegetables, check out Sunset Magazine’s edible gardening guide at http://www.sunset.com/garden/garden-basics/cool-season-crops-00400000042441/. If you plant to purchase seed f0r your own cool season garden, I urge you to choose non-genetically modified  and open-pollinated seeds so that you can harvest.