Been a bit of a slow return to reality. Don’t know why, but this year the post-holiday fog has been a bit harder to shake off (perhaps because it was such a truly wonderful vacation).

We’ve done only a bit of school so far this month of the book learning variety, though we have been pretty busy with the school of life stuff. In particular, we’ve been very busy putting up the weekly bounty from the farm over the last few weeks. Between the basil and tomatoes (not to mention the beans and peppers) I’ve spent most afternoons this month in the kitchen. In addition to spending a few hours with me each week in the fields at the farm, the girls have been participating by collecting tomatoes from the garden, stripping basil leaves from their stalks and turning the crank on the food mill. Our freezers are full to the brim. I had hoped to go in on a share of some local meat with friends, but that will have to wait until next year once the freezers are empty again (and properly defrosted this time around) and by then I hope to have learned more about canning — rather than freezing — all this wonderful produce.

I had signed up for the Eat Local Challenge for this month but never got around to writing about it here. Needless to say, with all the food coming in from the farm, available at the orchard and bursting in our own garden, eating locally and simply has been the rule rather than the exception.

About two weeks ago, I found myself saying to friends how very (VERY) glad I was that fall was here, because that meant an end to the cooking, canning, freezing fun. Well, I’ve gotten over that now (though that may be in part because all the basil is now pesto). Despite my crankiness about the subject earlier this month I truly am thankful for all this local organic food we’ll be able to dine on through the winter. And it’s been an important lesson to me about just how challenging it is to provide food for one’s family — and I haven’t even begun to scratch to surface on that front. We have dreams of a farm someday. This year has been a reality check. I still have the dream - but it’s really, really good to understand just how much hard work it will be. I am hopeful that by the time we can make the dream a reality, food preservation will be second nature (though still quite an enormous amount of work). I’m also looking forward to having the girls participate more and more as they grow and their abilities develop — all that time in the kitchen is much more fun when it’s shared.

In the meantime, I’ll work on acquiring new skills each year which I’ll pass along to the girls. This year I learned the basics of canning - and I’ve got a pantry full of strawberry preserves, marmalade and various (slightly runny - have to work on gelling next year) jams to prove it. I’ve also learned how to make fruit cordials, pasta and crackers (thank you Liz!) and pies and tarts from scratch. Next up, mozzarella and maybe goat cheese too.

And with the winding down of this year’s harvest season, I’m looking forward to catching my breath along with nature, slowing down and settling in for the quiet season.