Farms & Gardens

In our household, the autumn ritual of preserving our garden through canning, freezing, and juicing is a family gathering in the kitchen. I love the opportunity to fend off those first few cold nights with a steaming hot kitchen, the house windows fogged up from all the blanching, poaching, and hot water baths. We play jazz music on the stereo, and even after the kids go to bed, I’m often putting up the last few jars until 2 am. It’s one of my favorite parts of the year. There is only one exception to the rule here, the evening where my wife and kids can’t get far enough away from the house while I’m working. Despite that fact, this remains one of my favorite nights of all…processing hot peppers.

For the last week, I’ve awoken with cold feet. Every morning, after quickly shuffling to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee, I’ve shivered quietly about my apartment attempting to locate a pair of clean socks. Though my wool sweaters still sleep soundly in the garage, I know that fall lurks just around the corner, and I’ve begun to prepare myself for the end of summer that autumn always brings.

This is the sixth post in a summer-long series from a young farmer working as a harvest crew leader at Gardens of Eagan.

This is the fifth post in a summer-long series from a young farmer working as a harvest crew leader at Gardens of Eagan. Check out previous posts, Laying New Roots, When Farmers Stay Dry, Building Farm Community, and Bringing in the Harvest.

This is the fourth post in a summer-long series from a young farmer working as a harvest crew leader at Gardens of Eagan. Check out previous posts, Laying New Roots, When Farmers Stay Dry, and Building Farm Community.

This is the third post in a summer-long series from a young farmer working as a harvest crew leader at Gardens of Eagan. Check out previous posts, Laying New Roots and When Farmers Stay Dry.

I have enough trouble just remembering to write down a recipe after I create or adapt one for my tastes. Then, when I do, there is always the question of accuracy, as all too often I come back to it a month or year later and it just doesn't turn out. So, I find it more than just a little miraculous that barely a year has passed since I received and reviewed the Northern Heartland Kitchen cookbook by Dooley, and already, I am receiving emails asking me if I was interested in her newest piece of work, Minnesota's Bounty: The Farmer's Market Cookbook.

This is the second post in a summer-long series from a young farmer working as a harvest crew leader at Gardens of Eagan. Also check out the intro post, Laying New Roots.

This is the final post in a SGT series that looks at CSA -- community supported agriculture -- from the farmer's perspective.

This is the first post in a summer-long series from a young farmer working as a harvest crew leader at Gardens of Eagan.