Gosh, end of the Market already.  For anyone who may have been reading these random thoughts throughout the season, my thank you for your very kind indulgence.  It has been a pleasure sharing my thoughts and failures with you.  I look forward to supporting the Market again next season. 

Here are two really good recipes to tie up the end.

Pumpkin Spice or Apple Bread ~ Georgia Totten

 1-2/3 c. all-purpose flour; 1 tsp baking soda; ¾ tsp cinnamon; ¼ tsp ginger; ¼ tsp ground cloves; ¼ plus 1/8 tsp kosher salt; 1-1/3 c granulated sugar; 1/3 cup canola or other good vegetable oil; 1 cup plus 1-½ TBS canned unsweetened pumpkin; 1 large egg and ¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans.

 Mix oil, egg and pumpkin with an electric mixer until well blended, then add the egg and blend.  Stir the dry ingredients together then combine with the wet until combined.  Do not over beat.  Add nuts and bake at 350 degrees for one hour, 5 minutes for a standard loaf pan or 35 minutes for mini-loaves.  **Note-I find the mini loaf pans work best.  The standard loaf size doesn’t bake in the top middle as well as the smaller size. 

For the apple cake, use the same ingredients, but substitute a pint of homemade or canned apple pie filling and reduce the sugar to ¾ cup, breaking up any large pieces of the homemade apple pieces with a fork or a knife.  If the pie filling has a good amount of liquid, you may want to increase the flour to 2 cups.  A streusel topping made from rubbing ¼ cup sugar with 2 TBS of butter sprinkled over the top before baking makes a nice presentation.  Omit the nuts and bake the same as the pumpkin loaves.   

Instead of winding down for the season, the Market will be in its heyday these next few weeks, promising to be as colorful as the foliage at Falls Park.  Look for the late season veggies like broccoli and potatoes, garlic and still lots of greens, winter squashes, a good selection of onions, dazzling chrysanthemums and yes, eventually pumpkins.  I like to view their various colors as equivalent to the autumn blast of energy we all feel after the oppressive heat and humidity of summer, experienced in robust array; vegetables (and flowers, of course) as art. Along with the cobalt blue and salmon-colored sunsets of October, the deep colors of fall veggies seem a perfect fit.  In fact, while re-reading a book this afternoon about the Galveston hurricane in 1900 (Isaac’s Storm, a non-fiction read I highly recommend) I happened upon a description that also seemed somehow connected; frigate birds wheeling through a cantaloupe sky.  We all wait to be dazzled! 

With our long run of cool, dry days, now is naturally the prime time to get the yard and garden cleaned up and ready for next year, time to think about putting in more daffodil bulbs, or even a few new plants (who can pass up flowering vines on clearance?). The extended forecast appears to be favorable, so there is probably still time to get them established if one plants in the next few days.  Water consistently until we get a hard freeze, then mulch and hope they have ample time to set roots and survive the winter.  It’s always a gamble, but the odds appear to be in their favor this year.

 This is also a good time of year to dry or press any flowers you might want to save.  Just about any fresh, non-fleshy flower can be dried for use over the winter for use as indoor arrangements, or pressed for crafts.  Many will dry right on the plant, such as hydrangea, rose hips, yarrow and astilbe, while others may be lain carefully on a bed of powdered borax (yep, old 20-Mule Team; look for it in the detergent booster isle) then covered completely with more borax and left for several weeks (a disposable roasting pan is a good and inexpensive container to use and re-use for this purpose, and the borax can be re-used, as well).  Pressed flowers, leaves and thin twigs look nice arranged on the sides of plain or colored pillar candles (rub the back of a heated spoon (careful, as the handle will also be hot-foam pencil holders help here, as does keeping them sitting atop a electric skillet on low) to slightly melt the area where you want to attach the piece so it will stick. It will cool quickly and your decoration will stay in place.  Once the candle is completed, dip it into melted paraffin to set (melt the paraffin in a 1-lb coffee can in a pot of simmering water. A pair of pliers to clasp the wick is handy for the process).  This is obviously not a craft for children!   However, children will most certainly enjoy creating their own landscapes or greeting cards with pressed leaves and flowers, and good old white school glue works just great for these.  Simply remove the stems and press leaves and petals whole or separately in a book or magazine and add weights until dry, usually a month or so.  This is an especially fun craft for those cold indoor months when children are looking for something out of the ordinary to do. Older children may enjoy working with the more delicate petals with the use of a pair of tweezers for careful placement.  Young children will have fun with simple, easy to handle fall leaves.

Here are a few additional quick decorating ideas to enhance the autumn season:  Hollow out a pumpkin (poke a few drainage holes in the bottom) and set a pot of mums inside, tip the top decoratively near the base and accent with gourds and autumn berries.  And don’t forget the clear twinkle lights!  One can drill some around the pumpkin and put the lights inside the holes around the plant for added fun (my daughter did this for her October wedding (ten years on the 20^th—happy anniversary!).  I recently kept a smoky blue pumpkin I found at the Market over the entire winter placed on a tray with miniature lights and just changed the fall foliage to evergreen and pinecones as the season progressed.

Finally, I just have to add how proud I am of Sioux Falls, and especially of the great improvements over the past decade to Falls Park.  Last week I showed this off to my sister and brother-in-law, visiting from Indiana, and I could not have been prouder.  The beautiful weather was a bonus, of course, and the falls were running well despite our lack of rain.  We took the trolley, snapped a photo for a visiting European couple, rode the trolley and visited some shops downtown; one can so easily overlook that which is right in the backyard, and I recommend a trip to the Falls Park if it’s been awhile.  You will come away pleased, especially if you combine it with a trip to the Market in these last few weeks.

With the nighttime temperatures beginning to stay steadily in the mid-fifties (keep an eye on mid-week, which is predicted to dip to a low of forty-four; one report had temps dipping into the thirties!) it is clear our 2011 growing season will soon come to its predicable end.  Already, the first yellowed leaves are beginning to show up across the lawn, cricket season has been upon us for several weeks now, and in the dryer areas, grasshoppers are everywhere.  Soon Japanese beetles will be coasting through the warm afternoons, looking for nooks and crannies to use as house entryways.  

The Colorado peaches were delicious this year, as always, juicy and so sweet.  I bought my usual lug and quickly canned them, as they were at the peak of their ripeness.  This caused a bit of a problem in that I couldn’t fill the jars as full as needed without smashing and bruising the fruit, so they are half way up the quart jars floating in pinkish liquid, but they are yellow and lovely—none the worse for the easy handling.  However, a neighbor bought hers at HyVee on sale and had better luck with the process, as hers were not as ripe.  Each year we learn a little something to take forward, and next year I may pick out my own as opposed to ordering ahead of time.  No control there, although for fresh eating, my peaches were unsurpassed in natural sweetness and will be perfect for a Thanksgiving cobbler (good time-tested recipe to follow).

 This brings us to apple season, although I’ve heard apples are their sweetest when picked after a light frost.  I don’t know how much truth is in that adage.  Either way, I won’t have time to do applesauce for several weeks yet, so will likely find out for myself  (apple pudding follows, as well).   

 To many, fall means butternut and stuffed acorn squashes (these should be available soon), and at our house it often meant “breakfast for dinner” during those busy nights of soccer practice, trying to get everything cleaned up while the weather held, and covering plants to protect them from frost; nights of quick sausage and pancakes with lovely maple syrup.  My youngest daughter used to call these Red Sky Suppers, for the time of day and the setting sun igniting our western view. 

Potatoes are still plentiful and will be to the end of the season.  Some years ago my late husband and I attended a fish boil at an inn in northern Wisconsin that featured Lake Michigan white fish and potatoes all cooked in a huge pot outdoors, served with gilled sweet corn and slaw.  Perhaps it was the atmosphere; everyone outdoors on a stone patio, a frosty September night, sparks from the cook pot floating upward and the fire keeping us warm.  Those potatoes, along with the salty fish and grilled cobs were the best I’ve ever tasted.  Oh, to recreate those flavors locally without burning down the neighborhood. 

The following peach cobbler recipe is one I found years ago in a magazine and have made often.   The apple pudding recipe is one my great aunt gave me about forty years ago, and is a nice old time dessert.

Upside Down Peach Cobbler

1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tso salt, 1/2 cup milk, water, 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 – 16 oz can sliced peaches-drained (reserve syrup).

Mix dry ingredients together, then combine with the milk until just blended.  Add water to juice to make 1 1/2 cups and heat just to a simmer. Add butter and brown sugar and cook just until the brown sugar is dissolved.  Spread batter in a greased 9″ pan and pour peaches and syrup on top.  the syrup will be thin, and seem like a lot, but will be absorbed.  Bake at 350 degrees 30-40 minutes. 

Apple Pudding

1 quart jar of chunky homemade applesauce, 1 tablespoon quick cooking tapioca, small pearl size, 1/4 cup water.

Cook all together slowly until thickened and serve slightly warm with a scoop of vanila ice cream on top.

*Note:  I often do this in small batches as the tomatoes ripen, perhaps using a dozen or so at a time, and this usually equates to 4-6 pints per effort, but as it is an easy operation, that doesn’t bother me.  If you have a real glut of big juicy tomatoes, get out the quart jars!  The ratio of peppers, and onion to tomato is roughly 2/3 tomato to 1/3 onion and peppers combined.  Garlic is simply to taste, probably two full heads per the pan or tray holding these proportions.  A little more or less won’t make any difference.  

The Recipe 

Freshly picked, cored tomatoes, washed and cut into chunks (no need to remove skins or seeds)

Freshly picked peppers, Anaheim (my personal choice), Jalapeno or bells, whatever pepper you prefer, or a mixture of them, washed, seeded and cut into larger pieces

Fresh, mild onions, like Vidalia or Spanish yellows, peeled and cut into medium-sized pieces

Fresh garlic, peeled and left in whole cloves

Small amount of oil to coat, either olive or a good quality vegetable oil

A generous teaspoon of kosher salt and some freshly ground coarse pepper to taste

Fresh or dried herbs, as you prefer.  I use fresh oregano. 

Combine all on an un-greased cookie sheet and mix with clean hands.  Roast at 425 degrees until the peppers and onions begin to brown at the tips.  The time will vary depending on the size of your vegetables, so just keep an eye on them.    

Ladle the hot mixture into hot, sterilized canning jars, pushing down a bit to release some of the tomato juice.  Fill to ½ inch of top (if you don’t have enough juice from the tomatoes, I have added commercially canned tomato juice to supplement, or distilled water would probably work, as well), then remove any air bubbles by running a plastic (or other non reactive) knife down the insides of each jar.  Wipe jar tops with a clean paper towel moistened in hot water, then hand-tighten sterilized lids and screw bands and process in a pressure canner at 10 lbs for 20 minutes (pints) and 40 minutes (quarts).  

Please note that this is one of those items I mentioned in an earlier entry here that I used to can using the hot water bath method.  I learned from the extension educator that because the peppers, garlic and onion are all low acid vegetables, it really is not a safe method.  So, please–get a pressure canner!  In this writer’s opinion, it is well worth the investment. 

As the dismal year of my near garden continues, even my tomatoes have been uncooperative, only ripening a few at a time, and the few not eaten right away are being tossed into the freezer whole.  The few peppers I got from the two potted plants were also frozen and supplemented with some I bought at the Market; I even froze the garlic purchased there.  Although I won’t have my lovely jars ready to pop open as in past years, my plan going forward will be to simply roast the peppers, onion and garlic as needed and combine them with the thawed freezer tomatoes.  It will be the first time for this procedure.  I hope you have lots of tomatoes to use and enjoy this versatile mix.  

This evening I entertained a small group of women I have known for some years who meet frequently to share a common interest. Among them was Sioux Falls master gardener, Mary Ellen Connelly.  She is an unassuming person who writes beautiful prose about plants and the natural world, and I admit, I was a little disappointed to have her view the state of my yard.  Although she is the last person to be judgmental in even the smallest way, one still doesn’t want to tread too far off the path of acceptability, and my lawn, as well as the ever charging army of my 2011 weed consortium was obvious.  I know her to be an educated naturalist who wouldn’t bat an eye at any weed, but ugly is ugly, and for one reason and other, I’ve not been able to mow my lawn now for almost fourteen days. 

Despite my efforts at controlling the situation, sadly documented here over the past few months, things simply got away from me.  My two teenage grandsons spent a recent weekend helping me to clear away a thick, thick stand of black nightshade and other noxious weeds from the area that last year, held my strawberry patch, so the view from my back deck wasn’t overwhelming, but the volunteer trees making upward progress in my sedum bed and back lawn was obvious, offset only by some really lovely blooms from a sadly neglected hydrangea malingering near the back gate.  Mary Ellen was gracious, finding more positives than I could imagine, and I thank her for the encouragement, for her recognition of my intention.  She honestly made me feel happy, as if I didn’t have to rush a thing. I also thank the other women, Sioux Falls writer, Dee Dee Raap, and mystery novelist, Nancy Steedle for their similar kind indulgence, both of whom also have yards far superior to mine! 

Along with these women, I have had several opportunities to visit Mary Ellen’s  comfortable home, and at this point I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that her yard and mine are miles apart in size and content.  Hers is serene, a kind of flowing mix of verdant hues with subtle surprises tucked away in little crannies, areas of shade and sun alternating, dancing arm in arm.  I’ve seen  bluebells covering a slope there in late April, and so many plants I haven’t a clue of identifying;  Mary always gives their names, and as a part of her  generous spirit, often offers to share divisions (as do all true gardeners, all farmers; I think she would plant the entire world!).  She has trees that are not commonly found, a redbud and black locust, interesting bark and blooms to make one weep.  And the wildlife is lush, as well; in fact, if I were to see a heron meandering down the lovely slope that works its way to a gradual kind of low,  inverted slow crescendo there, I wouldn’t bat an eye.  It has that dream like quality.  I know she has worked decades to achieve an uncontrolled perfection, yet she would be the first person to celebrate the out of control, the chaos that nature relishes in providing delightful surprises.  It is years and years of hard, love-inspired work; and it is backbreaking work.  I know, for I have done it in my own small measure.

My point is that even before her arrival and her soft, encouraging words I had come to an acceptance of my own domestic scene; it was the only way I had, and so acceptance was mandatory.  Today was breezy and dry, a lovely, seasonal afternoon, and the tall, uncut grass took on that flowing, quiet movement that along with the quivering aspen and the softly swaying hackberry tree behind my house, combined to create a place quite out of present day; something close to past Septembers found in the country of the place where I grew up, a very long time ago, and in a place very different from South Dakota.  But, of course, our memories transport us, and for me, in this untidy yard with my garden failure and weeds out of control, it felt comfortable.

That feeling has carried over.  For all of today I had the singular pleasure of looking forward to coming home from work and just puttering in the yard, walking around it, picking a few tomatoes, pulling a handful of weeds.  Much like the aging mistress of the lovely old house in the novel, Howard’s End, I am a woman who likes to wander around her home, and that means meandering outdoors, as well.

As we enter the lovely, warm winding down of our 2011 growing time, let us keep in mind that each season holds its own promise. Whether we are small-time home gardeners, or dedicated market shoppers, live in an overgrown split foyer or a sprawling mid-town walkout, our plot is our plot, good undisturbed soil, or a simple pot on a balcony deck.  The joy we find from observing it becomes endless.

Come out to the market next weekend and experience the temperate transition from late summer to early autumn, take note of the subtle change in sunlight, and celebrate the season, weeds and all.