And the Kale Stands Alone...Well, Almost

I took this photo of my Kale this afternoon. It's not quite alone in the garden, but almost! Just an hour earlier, it was surrounded by tomatoes, peppers, winter squash and beans, but no more.

I have a love - hate relationship with October! I love fall but hate garden clean up. Although by this time of the year, I am exhausted from harvesting, canning, freezing, drying the garden's bounty. And, I am thankful for another year of being able to provide good food to my family from our little urban farm.

Here's a photo of the asparagus bed, which is now covered in straw mulch. Yes, that's a tomato plant in the middle. I did not have the heart to pull it yet because there are still lots of black cherry tomatoes on it that are not ripe. These were among my favorite tomatoes of the 2011 garden.

My boys and I spent a few hours outside today clearing out much of the garden that remained. I harvested the last of the beets, some carrots, lots of tomatoes (both ripe and green), a few last beans and peas.

Here are the last of the beets...and beets greens. YUMMY!

I will try to write a more extensive review of the 2011 season at some point. Probably after the maple tree has finished shedding her leaves and the snow flies.

Late Summer Harvest Pasta Recipe

Onions! Sweet onions. I grew Alisa Craig's this year after getting them in our Maple Creek Farm CSA box in the past. They are sweet and are meant to be eaten right away. For storage, I grew Copra's and Red Spanish. I still had some left in March from the summer before.

The heat and humidity have really kicked my garden in gear. Fresh garlic, kohlrabi, cabbage and broccoli on the table at the at the top of the photo. In the bowl, green beans, cucumber, various peppers, yellow and red cherry tomatoes, large slicing tomato and ground cherries. Ground cherries are small yellow fruits with a papery skin that you remove before eating. This is a new item for us. They are sweet with the consistency of a tomato.

A favorite tomato to eat right out of the garden. These little cherry tomatoes are sugar sweet.

My eggplant did not do too well this year. I started them from seed them put them in pots but I think they needed more room. Better luck next year. Lucky for us, Farmers Randy and Shirley of Hampshire Farms sell beautiful, organically grown eggplant at Eastern Market. The Grown in Detroit table had some, too.

Here is the recipe for one of our favorite summer supppers. Enjoy!

Summer Pasta Sauce

1 onion, chopped

4-5 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1" pieces

2 large zucchini, cut into 1" pieces

3 sweet peppers, cut into 1" pieces (I used green, yellow and red ones)

About 4 lbs. tomatoes, cut up (I use whatever I have on hand from the garden)

A couple of handfuls of fresh herbs-- Basil, Oregano and Thyme

Olive oil

Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until tender. Add the peppers and saute for 5 minutes. Add the zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes. Let cook for about 10 minutes, then add the herbs. Simmer the sauce for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to meld. Serve over pasta of your choice.

An Extraordinary Day

Much will be written about the historic inauguration that we witnessed yesterday. I had the good fortune of spending time in several places with many friends and members of the Detroit community in which I live.

For most of the day, I was at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. (www.maah-detroit.org). The Cass Tech Marching Band, an awesome choir from Inkster and a packed Theatre created amazing energy in the building. As members of the community streamed in to the Theatre to watch the inauguration, I was particularly moved by the reaction of the elders, many of whom had fought and struggled during the Civil Rights movement and had personally experienced racism. I spoke with a gentleman who was a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen who had tears streaming down his face as he spoke about how he felt watching our new President take the oath of office. It was a day that he did not expect to see in his lifetime. It was also exciting to see the faces of young children and hear them speak the name of our new President; the name Barack Obama rolling off their tongues as if he was a beloved family member.

Mid-morning, I went to my sons' school, University Prep Academy, to watch the swearing in ceremony with my 8 year old son. We had just spent the MLK holiday at a breakfast event the day before. The program included a short play performed by students from Detroit Public Schools' Spain Middle School. It was a dialogue between Martin Luther King and the Obama family. The keynote speaker was Rev. Byron Moore from Ebenezer AME Church in Detroit. He was awesome-- drawing biblical references to current events. My favorite message from his speech... The Joshua generation needs to sit at the feet of the Moses generation (listen to our elders), but the Moses generation cannot lead the Joshua generation (we need to step up.)

The school was decorated in red, white and blue. The student's were allowed to wear Obama shirts, etc. over their uniforms for the day. As the students gathered in the gym, it was clear that they knew this day was important. I am talking about kindergarten through fifth graders here. When the ceremony began, the children were silent. Everytime the crowd in Washington cheered, they cheered. I overheard a couple of little girls talking about what it would be like to be Sasha or Miela. One of the boys interjected, " I am going to President someday." How awesome that these African American children will grow up really believing that anything is possible.

Sometimes, as parents, we aren't sure if the messages and lessons that we are trying to teach are getting through to our children. On our way home from school, my older son was picking at his younger brother about sucking his thumb and dragging around his blanket (He's 3) I told him to "stop being so critical of your brother. Nobody's perfect, including you." My older son then responded, " Yes there is. God is perfect. Jesus was perfect, wasn't he?" I told him that, Yes, God is perfect and that Jesus was the most perfect human being to walk the earth" He then said, "And Martin Luther King was perfect." I told him, " Martin Luther King was a great man, but he wasn't perfect either" He then said, "Yeah, but he tried to make it perfect." We talked about how MLK did what he knew was right and that he lost his life trying to make things better for everyone." My son then said. "Just like Jesus did." (Yahoo!!)

We capped off our day at a potluck hosted by the Garden Resource Program at Focus: HOPE. If you live in the city and love to garden, you MUST join the Garden Resource Program. It is a partnership of the Greening of Detroit, Earthworks Garden, Capuchin Soup Kitchen and Michigan State Universtiy Extension. I have been gardening for 6 years and this group, with its terrific, generous people and lots of resources have helped me grow a substantial amount of food to feed my family. (if you want to learn more, go to http://www.detroitagriculturenetwork.org/ )

There really is a new sense of optimism in the air. I don't believe that this is a "pollyanna" view. Most of us recognize that things are not going to change over night and that it will take all of us to work and sacrifice to create a better city, nation and world.

Let's get busy!!