Henny Penny Farmette

I called my neighbor just after sunup this morning and asked her to come help me pick plums. I have trees of ripe plums, three different varieties, as well as apricots that are ripening too fast for me to keep up with drying and jam-making.

The smallest plums we picked have tart skin but sweet flesh

She came laden with a dozen boxes. I had ladders and buckets and bowls ready. We were soon joined by her husband who also brought a ladder. We picked until the containers were full and still the trees held a ton of fruit.

Apricots are sweet treats eaten right from the tree

He backed up their van and we loaded the fruit containers inside. They would drive the containers full of fruit to our local food pantry–the Contra Costa County Food Bank Warehouse at 4010 Nelson Avenue in Concord to distribute to needy families.

Saying thanks didn’t seem adequate enough, so I took my neighbors to my veggie patch to find some items just for them. I promised to deliver pumpkins when they were ready but for now we found heirloom zucchini, summer squash, and tomatoes.

Their gift of time and energy spent picking and packing fruit and delivering it to the food bank freed me up to start my jam-making.  A friend once told me that what blesses one blesses others. It certainly proved true today.

Heirloom tomatoes on the vine

If you’re interested in donating fresh food from your backyard garden, contact the Contra Costa Food Bank warehouse, located at 4010 Nelson Avenue, Concord, CA 94520 or call 925. 676.7543.  Hours are Monday through Thursday: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Pumpkins will ripen in autumn

If you don’t have lovely, helpful neighbors who will assist you harvesting your bounty, contact gleaners in Contra Costa County at  www.theurbanfarmers.org

_____________________________________________________________

If you enjoy reading this blog about my Henny Penny Farmette activities, check out my cozy mystery series (A BEELINE TO MURDER, MURDER OF A QUEEN BEE, and A HIVE OF HOMICIDES) as well as my current nonfiction books.

All are available online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart as well as traditional bookstores everywhere. The cozy mysteries are chocked full of delicious farmette recipes, tips of keeping honeybees and chickens, and farm trivia.

Novel #1

Novel #2

Novel #3

A special book that will be treasured for a lifetime of spiritual pursuits and practices

Packed full of ideas for creating the life you want

Pumpkins are quintessentially associated with autumn

My husband hails from the Dominican Republic, located on the east side of Hispaniola. Haiti occupies the west side of the Caribbean island. In the DR (as it is commonly called), Halloween today is celebrated much like it is in the United States. But it hasn’t always been that way.

Some who were born in the Caribbean do not celebrate Halloween, primarily because of religious convictions and a belief that Halloween has no roots in the history, cultural traditions, or even relevance to African-Caribbean folklore. But others have accepted the holiday and enjoy its fun-loving activities such as cavorting in costumes, consuming candy, and carving pumpkins.

As for superstitions in the DR, there are many. Did you know, for example, that a pregnant woman should not go to the ocean? I know, it seems a little strange since DR women live on an island surrounded by ocean. Another superstition is that a toddler who looks into a mirror will never speak (also strange since many youngsters in the DR today are educated as bilingual). There are witches spells, too. And ghosts and goblins abound. All part of the fun.

When my husband Carlos was growing up in the DR, Halloween wasn’t celebrated, however, Dominicanos did celebrate the Day of the Dead (El Dia de los Muertos) with sugar skulls, festively painted. The holiday honored one’s loved ones who’d passed away and their ancestors.

At Sagrada, in Oakland, sugar skull mold, icing colors, meringue powder, and more can be purchased with directions for making those treats. See, https://www.facebook.com/SAGRADA-Sacred-Arts-121760811179202/timeline/

If you’re not into whipping up a batch of sugar skulls, how about a pumpkin soup? Rich and complex with Dominican flavors, it’s a dish my husband fondly recalls from the days around Halloween/Day of the Death during his childhood. A bowl of tasty, nourishing soup can fortify the entire family before they don their costumes and head out for a little Halloween fun.

Dominican Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin may be used or West Indian pumpkin, calabaza)

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 cups unsweetened canned coconut milk

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large cooking pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until onions are golden brown.

Add pumpkin puree, chicken broth, allspice, and crushed red pepper.

Bring to a boil and immediately reduce the heat.

Let simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree the soup in a blender (do this in batches).

Return to pureed soup to the cooking pot.

Add the brown sugar and the coconut milk in batches of 1/2 cup each time until the desired consistency has been achieved.

Season with salt and pepper, according to taste. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

I arose early today as I have for the last few months, eager to greet the rising sun even as the days grow shorter as we head toward the winter solstice. I stand with eyes closed facing east until the light blazes against my lids, almost lighting my being from the inside. Then I say prayers–my way to start the day off right.

Pumpkins have been harvested now and the vines pulled and thrown into the compost pile

The fruit trees have changed leaf color and dropped most of their foliage. I helped them along today, collecting up all the fallen leaves and putting them in the green recycle bin. With the leaves gone, I can use an organic spray to prevent overwintering of fungi and pests. Similarly, I pluck the leaves from the tea roses and cut the canes to a height of between 12-18 inches.

With the spade, I turned the soil around the base of most of the fruit trees to aerate the soil in preparation for adding some amendments like compost. I twisted the remaining pumpkins off the vine and tossed the vines (which were still blooming and setting up fruit) into the compost pile. It’ll be freezing soon, so I’m just getting a head start.

Finches dining on small oily black Nyjer seeds

I put food in all the bird feeders and hung some suet for the woodpeckers. Finally, I raked an area under the pepper tree for the new, smaller hen house that Carlos will build sometime this month since we plan to acquire some new chickens in January. In all, it has been a very productive day . . . one of many scheduled for this month, the last month of the year.

Let the kids decorate these not-so scaredy cats, using colors they like. Add orange or black sprinkles to finish.

When you let the young ones in your family choose the cookie cutter shapes and icing  colors, you’ll get plenty of helping hands making cookies for Halloween.  I make these cookies a lot; they are perfect for any holiday and also for children’s tea parties. Just change the shape and bake and decorate.

Wrap the dough ball before chilling

After making the dough, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour to make the dough a bit firmer for rolling out.

At my house, the favorite shapes for Halloween are cats and bats

Half the fun is dumping onto the counter an assortment of cookie cutters and letting the kids choose their favorites. For Halloween, they might like ghosts, cats, bats, witches, and pumpkins. Help them roll out the cookies and place them on the cookie sheet for baking.

A tray of cat-shaped cookies ready for the oven

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

1.5 cups butter (softened if cold)

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 cups white all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar together.

Slowly beat in eggs and vanilla.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix together until thoroughly blended and dough can be shaped into a ball.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. You can also chill the dough overnight. If you don’t want to make the cookies all at once, then divide the dough into two balls to use when you want.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sprinkle flour onto a flat surface and roll out the dough to roughly 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut into shapes using your favorite cookie cutters. Arrange cookies on a baking sheet leaving 1 inch between cookies.

Bake 7 to 10 minutes.

Let cool before icing with your favorite sugar cookie icing.

A drop or two of food coloring can give you various colors of icing; , just be sure to put icing in separate bowls before adding the food coloring. Use a pastry bag with tips or even a toothpick to make designs on the iced cookie. Decorate with sprinkles.

Corn tastes best when seasoned and cooked in the husk

From our Henny Penny Farmette organic garden, I am already harvesting tomatoes, squash, eggplant, peppers, cantaloupe, and ears of corn.  But just because I’m harvesting crops now doesn’t mean I’m finished planting for the year.

Red onions, like these, can be grown in a box or raised bed–I often plant them as seedlings

In fact, in late June and July, while I am enjoying the healthy summer bounty from our garden, I like to think about what else I might plant, like more corn as a succession planting, or tucking in something new where onions or lettuces have been pulled.

In Northern California, we have the dry season (hot weather) and rainy season (cool and wet). The weather is temperate and I have learned to plant vegetables according to when they grow best.

Eggplant is so versatile, it can be prepared in a dozen different ways

This is the perfect time to plant  beans, corn, melons, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, rutabaga, and turnips.

Nothing beats pumpkin pie made from sugar-laden, home-grown pumpkins

Then as the months of the fall season approach, I plan to tuck in a few cool season crops  (bok choy, cabbage, carrot, fava bean, lettuces, peas, radicchio, and spinach) and root vegetables such as turnips, leeks, and onions.

Garlic and onions go into my garden in late October at the start of the cool season