Autumn is my favorite time of year because it's harvest time.
I'm not much of a green thumb, even though my grandparents did their best to teach me to grow things. But I make do by cheerfully volunteering to take those friends' extra zucchinis, then hitting farmers markets and farm stands for other goodies.
I'm also adept at knocking on doors and offering to pick fruit and bring back a jar of jam in exchange for sharing. Unfortunately, that June frost left us with some REALLY slim pickings this year. My friends have almost no apples, and as for plums and pears, forget about it. I've bought some banged up peaches for jam making, and managed to scavenge two small bowls of chokecherries to make choke-a-peach jam. It's good, but I might have to break down and buy a box of apples just so I have some jam variety as I head into winter.
I'm always amazed at people who don't eat jam. My family loves the stuff. I make multiple PB&J sandwiches daily at our house, plus toast for breakfast, so my family can easily knock off a pint jar in a week or two. That means in a good year, I'll try to put up at least 26 pints of apple butter, plum jam, chokecherry jelly, pear butter, and whatever else finds its way onto my kitchen counter, plus applesauce and dried apples. The hum of the food dehydrator running all night and drying apples makes me content, and the kitchen smells awesome. My mom in Texas makes strawberry jam, so that's a treat throughout the year, too.
Then there are those green chiles, a delicacy I had not discovered until moving here. That smell as they roast is to die for. I wasn't able to buy any of the local chile last weekend the Wrights were roasting because I was heading to a cross-country meet in Leadville, but we are heading down to Farmers Fresh this weekend to get a bushel. We bought a bushel two weeks ago in Santa Fe from Hatch, so I'm interested in comparing our local varieties to the famous New Mexico product.
The local chiles were absolutely gorgeous and freshly harvested, so I'm assuming they will taste divine.
There will be produce to check out at this weekend's Southern Ute Indian Fair, and some local jam is usually on sale at Bayfield Heritage Days, set to take place this year on Sept. 30 in Joe Stephenson Park.
I've also loved the carrots, tomatoes, greens and other veggies at the Thursday downtown farmers market in Bayfield, and Saturday's market is still going strong in Eagle Park, as well.
Being someone who loves my food, fresh peaches, chiles and other produce just make my day.
I hope you can enjoy as well, and thanks for reading.
