by Sue Hodgson –
Just like coming to the end of a wonderful book (Seaside Book Club pg 69), the last days of summer make us want to cling to the season all the more, as we start to think about what we will miss about it. Instead of focusing on the looming loss of what is most people’s favourite time (it’s surely mine), maybe we could ease our distress by making the best use of what we’ve got, while it’s still around! The way the weather is going, it seems like the sun will be here for another month.
Too often, the here and now get swallowed up by time spent lamenting what has been, and in fearing what’s to come. A large part of living in the moment is about appreciating the fruits of the season. That’s literally the focus of many of the articles for our September Culinary issue, especially the delicious-looking cover star, salmon, prepared three ways by Brent Whitaker (pg 22).
Why not take advantage of the cooler days by spending time outdoors visiting local farms in the fall? Photographer/writer Scottee Giles takes a bike ride and tours five local farms in Out for A … Bike Ride (pg 13), filling up the bike baskets and her pantry along the way. Or consider picking up some local corn and frittering away with our In the Kitchen columnist Joan Saunders’ special recipe (pg 10). Rachael Schnarr takes us on a tour of what edible plants you can grow in your backyard (pg 38). As she says: “… adding edible flowers to the garden is a must for flower lovers and food growers alike.”
When I was growing up in the Maritimes, we always had a huge garden that we all took turns caring for. I can still taste the fresh cucumber sandwiches, a ritual in our household; the hours spent picking the tomatoes that would ripen on the pool table in the basement; and one of my favourite pastimes was foraging in the forest for fiddleheads!
Go and enjoy a truly wonderful fall and don’t forget to pick an apple or that last tomato!
Seaside Sue
Photo by Janis Jean Photography.
Styled by Shai Thompson at House of Lily Koi, Sidney.
