Obviously the only way to harvest such a veggie is to sneak-attack them at night. They never saw us coming.

Maybe I will be a leek for Halloween. I think that costume would go over much better in our little farmy town than my “Lindsey Lohan Goes to Jail” costume last year {turns out, no one knows who Lindsey Lohan is around here.}

Isn’t it funny how the spookiest veggie makes the most comforting supper? We enjoyed several hot bowls of Potato Leek Soup this evening next to the cozy wood-stove, and we think you should too:

Rustic Potato Leek Soup
From “The Best Recipe Soups and Stews” by Cooks Illustrated.

4 pounds leeks {rinsed and and chopped into 1 inch pieces. Use only white and 3 inches of light green portion}
4 tb. butter, unsalted
1 tb. flour
5 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 lbs. potatoes chopped

Heat the butter in a large stockpot until melted and foaming. Stir in leeks, increase heat and cover for 15-20 minutes, but do not brown the leeks.

Sprinkle flour over the leeks and coat evenly until it dissolves.

Pour in the stock, whisking continually. Add the bay leaf and potatoes and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot with crusty bread. Yummmmm!

Variations:

1. Add cooked kielbasa or white beans just before serving.

2. Let the soup cool and then blend it in batches in a high-powered blender until completely smooth. Return it to the pot to warm it back up before serving. While blending, add a couple slices of a seedy, grainy bread {the gluten in the bread makes the soup extra smooth and creamy, and the seeds/grains [especially ones like flax and fennel] stay intact for a nice texture and add flavor.

It’s rainy and misty- the warm ground exhaling against the cold air- and I would’ve much rather been inside reading a book under a quilt. But that was not an option. Sarah and Bob {the folks renting our cottage} and I pulled on our muck boots and raincoats and headed out to the garden to harvest everything and anything that might be killed tonight.

We were greeted by the towering sunflower that Sarah planted next to the squash bed months ago. It’s just now flowering- just as the days get shorter and colder, this magnificently cheerful flower opens its fiery petals in a heartwarming and nostalgic salute to the real sun. It’s almost as if it knows we need some cheering up right about now.

I know some sunflowery-folks. They lay low and don’t ask for much, and then BAM! They’re right there when you need them, with their contagious optimism.

Our cold, pink fingers worked quickly, and our boxes and baskets filled with a rainbow of goodies.

It was sad to do the last tomato harvest without Mike, who is away on a business trip. He tenderly nurtured these tomatoes from seedling-hood. He remembered to water them. He rotated their flats next to the window regularly so there was equal-opportunity sunshine exposure.

All summer long we ate from these tomato vines. They pumped out tomato after tomato after tomato- we could barely keep up.

And now, the vines are mostly all brown, withering and shrinking back in the cool air, lifting up their neon colored fruit with the last of their energy. Each juicy orb filled with all of the life the plant has left; It gives it all to the fruit and keeps nothing for itself.

I know a few tomato-plant-characters in the human world.

And the squash. Hard and knobby on the outside. Flesh-like and quietly sweet on the inside. A nice surprise for those with a strong enough arm to cut through the shell. I wonder what intrigued the very first squash-eater to find out what was inside this bumpy ogre-of-a-veggie.

I know a few squashy-people.

I’m overwhelmed by what the earth has given us this year. Us! Total beginners in the world of growing food. It’s like the ground saw us trying really hard, took pity on us, and decided to give us its very best- despite all our mistakes, not keeping up with weeding nearly enough, and our general lack of know-how.

How can you hold one of these beautiful gifts in your hands and not be pierced with the meaning of it? Our bodies receive nutrients and energy from these vegetables, and our hearts swell with a new understanding of the words sacrificial love.

It’s also weedy, which our permaculture friends think is cool, but really we just haven’t been able to keep up with it. The plants don’t seem to mind, though.

I haven’t needed to go grocery shopping for a week, and boy is that nice!

We’re learning so much, and keeping a journal so we know what to do differently next year. And we’re eating tacos tonight with these beautiful tomatoes!

Have a sun-shiny weekend, everyone!

Next week: The first Dear T&M post, and photos from our time at the cabin!

We spent the winter unpacking all our belongings and finding spots for them in our new home, unwrapping and cherishing our wedding gifts, visiting with old friends and making new friends in our new town, and sitting cozily around the woodstove day-dreaming about all the projects we wanted to tackle come spring.

In spring, we were delighted to see little green garlic shoots sticking up through the straw and snow. All summer long we have watched those shoots get longer and longer, and finally this week it was time to pull them up.

We husked them to get the dirty outer layers of paper off, hung them to dry in the shady screened-in porch, and stepped back to admire our very first garlic harvest.

For garlic-lovers like us, there are few things prettier than a garland of fresh garlic hanging in your house.

We have enough to last us the year. And considering that we spent a small fortune staying stocked with organic garlic from the food co-op this year, it’s extremely nice to know that our favorite flavor-adder for almost every meal is so easy to grow.

It’s a little mind-boggling to us that we have been here long enough to see the fruits of our labor from almost a year ago. This place still feels so new to us, and everything that happens is happening for the first time.

I can’t imagine what a garlic harvest will feel like in 20 years, when it’s old news. My guess is that it’ll be no less amazing than it is this time. Gifts from the earth never cease to inspire gratitude and wonder in their recipients {and I have that on authority from some very veteran gardeners.}

I decided to make this soup with the chard and parsley, and these eggplant chips. It was all very tasty, hearty, filling, and flavorful. I love recipes that use staples from the pantry paired with fresh treats from the garden; No trip to the grocery store necessary.

Isn’t she cute? I loved her wide-brimmed hat and yellow garden clogs. And her worn-in carpenter jeans had a nifty loop for a hammer or a garden trowel to hang from {she’s been wearing this pair since she was my age!}

In case you’re searching for good-quality, nice-looking gardening attire for the summer:

Cap-sleeved tee with sweet embroidery / Last-forever-jeans / A few different clog options: if you have tiny feet like me, if you’re a lover of vintage shoes {and happen to be a size 7}, or if you want something water-proof and long-lasting / wide-brimmed gardening hat / Tweed gardening gloves / Handmade claw cultivator {a must-have for tough weed-pulling!}

He’s such a good helper. Sometimes there’s a root or a weed that’s being particularly difficult to pull out, and he moseys on over and tugs on it with all eleven of his pounds. He’ll work on it and work on it- digging, pulling, chewing- until it finally gives in. Thanks, little buddy!

Remember when these giant ferns were just tiny baby fiddle-heads? The daffodils are done for the season and are making way for the peonies, which look about ready to bloom any day now…

Needless to say, with all this beauty around me, it was a little difficult to stay focused on weeding. I kept stopping to examine and photograph and sniff and touch all the pretty plants.

Can you blame me?

Also this week: The temps reached magic number 70. Way to go Wisconsin! We’re really happy about this. The first swim of the summer in Lake Superior took place after a long day of sweatyhot work in the garden (we got our starts in the ground). And we had a wonderful time jamming, laughing, and sipping beer late into the night around a fire with some new friends. The stars were out, the owls were hooting…it was pretty perfect.

They were so kind to want to help us get some of our seedlings in the ground. Laboring under the hot sun is a lot more fun with good company.

Well, some of us worked hard…and some of us just laid in the sun…

We didn’t work the whooooole time. We walked to the Farmer’s Market in town and made some delicious meals together, which resulted in some colorful compost {too bad I didn’t snap any shots of the meals themselves! We were just too darn eager to eat….}

There was time for grad-school homework….

And we even snuck in a couple naps and quiet reading time….

LOOK at those apple blossoms! They were floating down all around me while I was laying there, every time the breeze rustled the tree. Paradise.

And they make the house smell heavenly.

Now, we’re off to take a dip in the big lake to cool our hot bodies before dinner. Happy Summer!!!