Easy Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

Our son came home for Thanksgiving and made this delicious, hearty soup, adapted from the Run Fast, Cook Fast, Eat Slow cookbook. It comes together in minutes and only needs about 20 minutes on the stove. Serve with your favorite bread for a complete weeknight meal.

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 medium onion diced
2 carrots peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
1 large yam, unpeeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
1 can garbanzo beans drained
1 can coconut milk
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes
4 cups water
3 cups chopped kale.

In a dutch oven or heavy soup pot heat oil and saute onions, carrots, celery and salt about 5 minutes until soft, but not brown. Add curry powder and stir for 30 seconds. Add remaining ingredients, except kale. Bring to a boil and simmer until sweet potato is soft, about 15 - 20 minutes. Add chopped kale and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds.
Makes 4-6 hefty servings.   

Caching Food for the Winter

Squirrels and a turkey take advantage of bird seed on ground following the first snowfall of the year.

As Thanksgiving approaches, our thoughts are turned to food. As with the early settlers, without a means to access food, the outset of winter can turn tragic for those in the animal kingdom. This week in LIVESCIENCE an article titled "How Do Squirrels Remember Where They Buried Their Nuts" describes research conducted by Mike Maria Delgado, University of California Davis, and published in the Journal Royal Society Open Science. The article reports how squirrels will bury their collections in various areas based upon characteristics of the food and that they rely on memory to locate the stash during the winter. About 95 percent of the stored food is successfully found and retrieved. What I found most interesting in the article is that even when squirrels cache their food in the same vicinity of other squirrel's supply, each squirrel will return to their own personal cache. There was an abundance of acorns last fall, which contributed to a rise in the squirrel population this year. I counted at least six squirrels at our feeders this past weekend. They are probably leaving their acorn harvest for later in the winter, when other sources of food are more scarce.

Gardeners and farmers are fortunate in that we don't have to hide our harvest, and that we have means to freeze, dry and can our food to ensure a healthy supply of food over the winter. And, if we don't preserve enough, there are always winter farmers markets and organic food selections at the super market. For this I am grateful. Happy Thanksgiving All!

A Hike in the Lakes Region

Typically, when my friend Sue and I hike it is somewhere in the White Mountains, but today we decided to explore a lower elevation trail in Brookfield, NH. At only 1868 feet, Copple Crown is a relatively easy hike with rewarding views at the summit.

We parked at the plow turn-turnaround at the end of Moose Mountain Road. This was recommended to avoid the rough terrain of the road that follows for an additional .3 miles. If you have a vehicle that can handle it, there is an official parking area with a map showing the various snow mobile trails which intersect at this junction. There is a sign to the right that points to the Copple Crown hiking trail.

The first 1.3 miles of the hike is at an easy grade up an unmaintained Class VI town road. With heavy rains yesterday, the road was quite wet.

Certain wet areas  had a light coating of ice which reflected the surrounding trees beautifully.

A sign that the ground isn't completely frozen yet, was the "needle ice" or "frost pillars" observed in a couple spots along the trail. Needle ice forms when underground water is pushed to the surface and freezes as it reaches air temperature that is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

Needle Ice

This is in contrast to the icicles that we saw on rocks that were probably formed when the air temperature dipped below freezing during or following the rain storm.

Icicles

At approximately 1.2 miles there is a trail kiosk on the left with a map of the 732 acre conservation area managed by the Lakes Region Conservation Trust. This is the official beginning of the trail which is marked by blue blazes.

Trails are always more difficult to follow in the fall when they are covered with leaves. This one in particular required us to keep an eye on the blue blazes as it was not always evident when we had wandered off the trail inadvertently. Fortunately, we would realize our mistake before we got lost. The are two peaks atop Copple Crown - the main summit and East Peak. Unfortunately we never saw the sign for the main summit and only made it to the ledges of East Peak. In any event, it was a beautiful and warm spot to eat lunch and enjoy the views.
Snow is in the forecast for later this week which will paint a different picture when hiking. We hope to get out often this winter, but for today, it was great to be outside and enjoy the Autumn air. 

Fall Preparations

We have had a lot of rain this Autumn, so Sunday's partly sunny day was a welcome change. Our Japanese Maple tree finally dropped most of it's leaves. With daylight savings time ending Sunday morning, the earlier daylight in the morning was also welcome. My son and I spent most of the morning, sweeping up leaves with the tractor and raking them from the planting beds nearest to the house. All other beds are left as is until Spring, with the leaves providing extra insulation for the perennials underneath as well an overwintering home for insects and small mammals.

The browns have temporarily taken over the greens in the compost bin.

Since the temperature on Sunday was above freezing, it was also a good day to protect our broadleaf evergreens from the unpredictable temperature swings of winter with a pine resin spray. I typically use Wilt-Pruf, but found that Bonide also carriers a similar product. Since we started using these winterizing products we haven't lost a single rhododendron over the winter. Not only do they survive, but they thrive the following season.

The active ingredient in both Wilt-Pruf and Wilt Stop is derived from the resin of pine trees

Now that most of the leaves are fallen, we can see in which trees the birds have been nesting.

The mud lining of this robin's nest is clearly visible

Most of the annual flowers have succumbed to the freezing temperatures, so it was a pleasure to see a few perennial flowers still in bloom.

Mid-Autumn blooming flowers

Another interesting observation is that on our walkway the moss growing between the bricks has become more lush than it has been all summer. It definitely prefers the cool temperatures and shorter days.

Moss is looking very healthy this time of year.

I know that it won't be long before snow blankets the ground, so I consider each day of green this time of year to be a blessing.