This is the month that farms shift into a flurry of activity to ensure that the final harvests are secure for the on-coming winter, while still reveling in late autumn sunshine and flavors. Early October is usually a reminder of why we love summer, providing long days of warmth while keeping the nights cool and comfortable. Often this sunny disposition shifts about mid-month and we receive the first frost or truly cool morning. In the mid-West, the mountains and throughout New England, the trees shift in color and have lost a majority of their leaves by Halloween. This marks the next part of farming, the winter squashes, the hardy greens - the end of fragile and delicate berries, herbs and lettuces and a transfer of growing energies into the earth, roots start to take hold and the cruciferous vegetables really excel in their growth and production.
Beets, turnips, rutabaga, spinach, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower all do well in this transitional period and the winter squashes and root vegetables are 'cured' in the fields by the cold evenings. This is when culinary thoughts turn to pickling and 'putting up'the harvest abundance to enjoy throughout the winter. Shelling beans are dried and preserved for hearty soups and stews later in the winter, fruits are jarred and preserved. Years ago, some of the fall slaughter was prepared through confit and laid down in layers of fat and salt to be kept in an aseptic environment and preserved through the entire winter.
The beauty of this time too is that we can still enjoy the season's gifts of apples and late harvest peaches, with the addition of persimmons and pears. We have access to some of the best and most delicious ripe fruit that seems to psychologically offset all the 'hard' vegetables that are growing and being stored for the cold months to come.
