Category Archives: Food

One pair of plants the Japanese beetles have not yet discovered are the goji berries we planted in the vineyard two years ago.

The vines are getting longer and starting to run on the ground, so we’ll be putting a row of wire up soon to make sure they have somewhere to ramble.

I’ve only ever had dried goji berries and the few puny ones that we got off the plant last year. They have a slightly bitter taste. Kind of like a cherry/cranberry/raisin combo. The boys and I like them, but we like a slightly sour berry.

The real benefit of these little pill shaped fruits is vitamins and nutrition they provide. The been shown to boost the immune system, improve brain activity and protect against cancer and heart disease.

They are packed with vitamin C, B2 and A and contain antioxidants like iron and selenium. In short, they are a superfood.

We’ve tried them out of hand. They’d probably be good in cereal or oatmeal too. Many people make a tea out of the berries. We may try that if we get enough this year. The plants are still pretty small, so we may just eat them off the vine again.

Small, delicate and wispy
Quietly growing vines
Leaves not brown and crispy
Flowers and leaves on a vine

Fruit oblong and rosy
Tasty and juicy too
Clumped together and cozy
A delicate, reddish hue

We’ve been waiting for the brussels sprouts to get bigger, but it seems that they’ve grown as much as they are going to.

The boys were excited to harvest them and, truth be told, so was I.

I have purchased fresh brussels sprouts, still on the stalk, at the store. Our stalks are larger and taller but our sprouts are smaller than storebought.

I worried that they were not ripe, but the leaves were starting to spread so we tasted one…or two…or three.

They were delicious and sweet, with a slight bite. Joe absolutely loved them. He could not stop eating the ‘baby cabbages’.

While harvesting these tiny wonders, we found some kale ready to pick.

I’d forgotten that I’d planted it so it was a nice surprise and, since it is soup season, will be a tasty addition to vegetable chicken soup.

There were also cherry tomatoes red and sweet on the vine and a random cucumber, but the kale and brussels sprouts were the most exciting fall harvest.

Pumped up by our discoveries, we prowled the homestead in search of more produce ready to pick.

We were rewarded. Our autumn olive had red and pink berries that were sweeter and slightly bigger than last year’s crop.

They were only on one side of the shrub though. The other side is all new growth thanks to the ice storm that split the plant in two last year. I’m just happy that it grew back instead of dying.

The boys burrowed in and refused to leave until they picked and ate all of the ‘delicious berries’.

Next, we harvested ‘a few’ Jerusalem artichokes.

My niece and I spent an hour or so digging them up, but we barely made a dent.

There are so many still in the ground and I don’t know what I am going to do with all of them.

I froze around half of what we collected, but freezing them changes the consistency. They’ll be mushy so I’ll have to mash the frozen ones in with potatoes and puree them into soups.

They can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks so I’ll be sharing them with friends and family.

I’m not too worried about how far they’ve spread. The yellow flowers are beautiful and the tall green stems lovely.

Plus, we do have several acres for them to spread and pop up and we may be able to sell some of them next year.

In all, we’ve had a successful fall harvest. Now on to planting garlic before the ground freezes.

Some kale right here
Some berries there
Artichokes are everywhere

Sprouts all around
More than a pound
I’ll roast ’em ’til they’re crisp and brown

Fall veggies grow
Until there’s snow
And bitter winds howl loud and blow