Even though there are still about 28 days remaining until the first official day of Fall, I can feel and see the signs of it creeping in already. Sunflowers are blooming and wildflowers are flowering. The locusts are getting louder.
The days are getting shorter… Which means less sunlight, which means fewer eggs, and soon, good-bye to the garden. Sunset happens at about ten minutes after eight o’clock now. The quail have nearly stopped laying for the season. I put the last of the quail and a few “special breed” chicken eggs into the incubator, with the small bit of hope they’ll hatch okay. This will be the last planned hatch for the season.
Last night, after finishing barn chores and taking a stroll through what hopefully will be my small orchard someday, I realized it was half past eight and I still needed to eat something for dinner. Something quick and uncomplicated…
I put a pot of water on to boil then stepped out into the night barefoot. I tread careful through the cool damp grass (praying to avoid chicken turds) toward the small garden, where I have herbs, cantaloupe, sunflowers and fig trees growing.
I swear I could smell the basil before I even got to the garden gate. I stood for a moment before I picked some, admiring the tall sunflowers against the back-lit remains of the evening’s sunset and inhaling the perfume of basil and damp grass. I thanked the universe for a beautiful evening and being able to pick such perfect food from my yard, then rushed back in to start the pasta. (Thankfully, no chicken turds were stumbled upon).
I felt a little bummed that I hadn’t had the chance to make my own pasta as of late, but the tomatoes….. there is only time to do canning on the weekends for the most part. The relentless tomatoes keep coming! But I’m not complaining. I’m thankful that I have more canning to do on my farm than I can actually get done, and that I immensely enjoy the task.
In the end, the fresh basil and tomatoes (and large glasses of Merlot) had softened my contempt with the store-bought pasta and I was able to go to bed with good thoughts. ~A
