September Chill

 

 

 

 

 

There is once again parking to be found in Lunenburg, the farmers market is brimming with local veggies and the weather is getting noticeably crisper. It can only mean one thing: Autumn is upon us in full force.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its my favourite time of year in Nova Scotia.  The trees give us an amazing show before giving up their leaves for the winter.  The tourism softens but is still steady so work is just a bit more relaxed. We get to light the wood stove for the first time in months. The house is full of tomatoes and potatoes, there are screens everywhere drying seeds, hops, herbs, and other treasures…. and the bounty of the harvest is ready to but put in Jars for the seasons. Although I follow a small batch approach, putting food by all year long but, Fall is the season where I seem to do the most canning and preserving.

 

 

 

 

 

I love spending my weekends over the stove cooking up something I know will sustain us thru the long winter months. There is just nothing better than opening a jar of your own homegrown goodness when the ground is frozen and everything seems dead. A Jar of homemade pasta sauce gives one reassurance that spring will indeed come  around again. A jar of jam made from the summers ripest berries gives one hope that we will feel the sun on our bare skin once again.