Indian Summer

Deeper into radish season we go and dang nammit, those tomatoes refuse to die. We did suffer some ice burn on the plant tips but our southern facing hillside with its perpetual breezes kept King Frost from doing his ashes to ashes dust to dust thing. All hail the belated arrival of Indian Summer:  pale blue sky unblemished by cloud but for the manmade one rising stealthily to the south of us from the ever chuffing Limerick towers.  Out on the horizon, the wind had sculpted our endearing nuclear puff  into what  looked to me like a mirror image of the boot of Italy so I tried to take a picture of it with my iphone but somehow it didn’t come out so well. 

So I settled on more organic pictures reminiscent of Italy:  one of the cold loving Italian chicories growing in the field. 

 Another of CSA manager Stefanie Angstadt nourishing herself from the same soil that has nourished her ancestors since the 1700s.

Here she gnoshes on a tangy esoteric red mottled green named after the Italian village, Castelfranco, where it is famous.  Full heads of radicchio should make it into your shares by next week.   Although Stefanie is staying in the area to complete the book she is working on, she is stepping down from her duties at Eckerton Hill Farm.   We are grateful for her energy and her ability to organize a farm that was a bit overrun with weeds, both literal and methaphorical, when she arrived.   

A huge thanks goes out to the Eckerton Hill crew, to Maryann Terillo and especially to Mario Juarez, for the amazing food that was served Sunday at our annual pot luck/pig roast.  And thanks to all of you who contributed to a splendid event.   Mario, too, is moving on to work in the kitchen at Bolete, so those of you who pick up your shares there will still have him around.  Thanks for your creativity in the kitchen, Mario!

Don’t be surprised if Santa drops some sungolds into your stockings come December!