Vermont Summer Bounty

The hills shrouded in cool mist this morning, a soft drizzle falling, birdsong muted. The earth fragrant after a summer rain, the meadow a wild tangle of brambles and overgrown grasses, self-sowed patches of white, yellow and pink – daisies, sweet-william, rudbeckia and coreopsis in bloom, bright orange day lilies. The heat of the day soon to come. The garden herbs lush and fragrant, there for the picking. Summer’s bounty appearing at farmer’s markets, shops selling seasonal local produce. This year a foray into community supported agriculture. A CSA share from a local farm and orchard, eight generations of the same family farming the same land. A weekly pick-up of organic produce – the day’s harvest. The first few weeks an exercise in cooking and preparing greens – mesculin, spinach, arugula, lettuces, kale, chard – in new ways, the weekly pick-up fleshed out with apples, cider vinegar, honey and maple syrup from other seasons. Eggs from happy hens, and roasting chickens ready for the freezer. A gift of early sweet strawberries, curly-cue garlic scapes and slender rhubarb stalks, spicy radishes. Vegetables and fruits to savor now – and for later – a taste of summer preserved. Each week, new surprises, new taste treats – the promise of abundant harvests to come.