Onion Lentil Soup

Onion Lentil Soup

Filled with both antioxidants and protein, this soup is great for boosting your immune system as we enter into the cold and flu season.

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter 
1 Medium sweet onion peeled and sliced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1 cup dried brown lentils
1/8 cup tamari or soy sauce
4 cups water or broth
1 cup beer
1 bay leaf
Crusty bread and Swiss cheese for topping (optional)

In dutch oven or soup pot, melt butter and add onion, sugar and salt. Cook over medium low heat, stirring frequently so the onions don't burn. Cook about until brown and caramelized, about 20-30 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minutes. Add lentils, sage and tamari/soy sauce, stirring for one minute. Add water/broth, beer and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until lentils are soft 30 - 40 minutes. If desired, pour into oven safe bowls, add swiss cheese and bread and broil until cheese is melted. 

Fall Preparations

Gladiolas dug up for winter storage

We have been blessed the past several weekends with cool dry weather which has been perfect for doing yard work and preparing the garden beds for the upcoming winter. As you can see from the photo above, the maple and birch leaves have been falling. We typically do a combination of running the lawn mower over the leaves so they will break down in place, and sweeping the areas where the leaves become too thick and might smother the grass in the Spring. There is always plenty for the compost bin.

This past weekend I dug up the gladiolas. I don't particularly like flowers that require extra care, but I have become found of my glads. The gorgeous blooms they provide in late summer are worth the work, which actually is quite minimal. After digging them up, I snip the roots and cut the stems and then dry them completely before storing in the basement. I use a small bushel basket and cover the bulbs loosely with newspaper. With these simple steps, I have been rewarded with many years of flowers from a single bulb. 

Gladiola bulbs that will be stored over the winter

Another chore that is not just for Fall, is to cut down as much bittersweet as possible. Ideally this should be done before any berries have formed. Although it sometimes seems like a losing battle, it is more of a constant battle. By continually removing the vines, they don't have a chance to take over, but an organic approach is not a once and done solution. It requires constant pulling, which can be discouraging.

Oriental Bittersweet underneath a Blue Spruce

I am primarily concerned with the vines damaging trees, so I try to regularly cut vines that are climbing up and around the tree trunks and branches.

Although most of the flowers are done blooming, these Cosmos,  are hanging in there and are providing some late season nectar for this bumble bee (on the white flower.)

We have only had a couple light frosts, so the grass and many plants are still green. It is unusual, though to see lavender blooming this late in the season.

Lavender Blooms

Also unusual to see is the new growth on an Anise Hyssop plant. It reminds me more of Spring than Fall.

Anise Hyssop

In addition to putting the garden to bed, I also recently planted a small area with arugula and radishes which has been very enjoyable in dinner salads. I love extending the season as long as possible and this year the end is not clearly in sight.

Fresh Fall Radishes

Roasted Eggplant with Broccoli and Chickpea Rotini

This is a quick and easy mid-week meal, which is good any time of the year. In the early summer, you could substitute the broccoli for zucchini. 

Ingredients: 
1 eggplant, sliced about 3/4 inch thick and cut into 2 inch cubes
Olive oil 
Salt
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 medium tomato diced
2 cloves garlic chopped
1- 8-10 oz box chickpea Rotini
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 ounces feta cheese cubed or crumbled
1 teaspoon dried red peppers

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray bottom of cookie sheet with olive oil and spread out eggplant pieces. Sprinkle with salt. Brush each piece with olive oil. Roast eggplant in oven until soft, turning every 15 minutes and spreading with additional olive oil as needed.

Cook Rotini according to package directions. When rotini is done, drain, reserving a cup of liquid. In same pot add cooked eggplant and remaining ingredients, except for the feta cheese. Stir in 1 Tablespoon olive oil and pasta liquid. Simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Warblers and More in Webster

Part of our birding group gazing at Mount Kearsarge over Knight's Meadow Marsh

Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of joining birding expert Bob Quinn and a group of area birders on an early September bird walk in Webster, New Hampshire. The weather forecast was for rain, but other than a few sprinkles, it turned out to be a beautiful morning for observing fall migratory birds. I had previously only been on Spring warbler walks so I did find that the foliage on the trees and bushes made anything more than a brief sighting a challenge.

Cedar Waxwing

Before driving to our destination, while we gathered in the school parking lot, a few Cedar waxwings landed atop a barren tree, so there was no difficulty in seeing them.We also heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the distance, and had I been alone, I probably would not have noticed it.

Once everyone arrived, we drove a few miles to Knight's Meadow Road to begin the walk which ended at Knight's Meadow Marsh. It did not take long before birds started appearing, including warblers. Once they started appearing, all we had to do was stand in place and watch them fly back and forth from one side of the road to the other. Our group as a whole identified 11 warbler species. It was somewhat disappointing that I was only able to capture one, a Blackburnian, with my camera. The Blackburnian warbler breeds in the United States from Northern Minnesota westward through the state of Maine. During the summer they are found in the forest canopy, but during migration they come down to the lower brush with other warbler species. I consider myself lucky to have seen this one. He has a long way to go before his final destination - the open forests of South America.

Blackburnian Warbler

After a couple hours of warbler watching we entered the woods where we heard and saw a Broad-winged hawk. We then crossed over a brook, and stopped to observe a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Upon our arrival, the Marsh was relatively quiet. There were some Wood ducks and a Great blue heron, but the marsh is so beautiful that seeing any birds was just an added bonus.

Knight's Meadow Marsh

That being typed, I was thrilled that a Solitary sandpiper flew in and landed in front of us.

Solitary sandpiper

All in all, this was one of the most interesting bird walks I have experienced, with great weather, people, and, of course, the stars of the morning, the birds.

What is Eating all the Milkweed?

Decimated leaves of milkweed plant

I know that a variety of insects feed on milkweed and I have marveled at the variety that are attracted to this plant - from butterflies and bees that feed on the nectar of the flowers, to the caterpillars and beetles that feed on the leaves. In the past there has always seemed to be plenty of plants to support all of these insects, but this year, the demand on these plants has taken a toll.

Back and June I saw the first monarch caterpillar on a milkweed plant next to our house. I watched it as it grew and I assume that it made it's way to form a chrysalis and then emerge as a butterfly. A couple weeks later, this same milkweed plant was completely covered with tussock moth caterpillars.  Although there were several other milkweed plants nearby, this particular one seemed more favorable than the rest, which was unfortunate, because it certainly could not support the number of caterpillars that were trying to feed on it. I have never seen anything like it, and have not noticed such an infestation on any of the other milkweeds since.

Tussock Moth Caterpillar invasion, and what looks like a little inchworm.

Almost every inch of the plant was covered in addition to hundreds of larvae on the house. I am not sure what happened to them, because within a few days they were gone.

I have also noticed that some of our milkweed plants have appeared to be eaten by something larger than insects, since in addition to large chunks taken from the leaves, the plants themselves have been knocked over. I know that we have a neighborhood porcupine and wonder if perhaps it is the culprit.

Milkweed stalks pulled to the ground.

On Saturday, I was happy to see that in spite of the struggle that the milkweed plants seemed to be having, I saw two small monarch caterpillars on one plant. A monarch will typically lay just one egg on a plant and since one caterpillar was quite a bit smaller, they probably came from two different butterflies.  Unfortunately,  yesterday I witnessed how Nature can sometimes be cruel as a beetle decided to make a meal of one of the caterpillars. I am not certain, but think the the beetle was an early stage of a predatory stink bug. I would be grateful if someone could confirm.


As sad as it was to see this, I understand that it is all part of the cycle of nature. When I checked on the milkweed plant later in the evening, there were three more beetles which I knocked off the plant. I am hoping that the one monarch caterpillar lives, but I know that statistically less than ten percent of eggs laid will survive to become adult butterflies. I support the planting of milkweed to support monarchs, I do not believe in overly heroic measures to save them, as nature typically knows what she is doing, by supporting millions of species, all which serve some purpose, even though we  humans can't always see what that may be.

Lemon Quinoa with Chickpeas

Lemon Quinoa with Chickpeas and Asparagus

This is a simple dish and with canned chickpeas, it comes together in about 30 minutes. Served here with asparagus, it's a quick summer meal.

Ingredients:
1 15-ounce can chickpease
1 lemon
salt and pepper
1 cup quinoa
1 lime
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup pistachios chopped

Rinse chickpeas and combine in bowl with zest and juice from lemon and salt and pepper. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. Cook quinoa per package directions. In a blender, blend juice from lime, honey, mint, dash salt and 1/2 cup water until smooth. Warm chickpeas in marinade over stove or in microwave. Drain and serve with quinoa. Pour sauce over both and sprinkle with pistachios. 

The Biggest Little Farm

The Biggest Little Farm has had an extended showing at our local independent theater for the past few weeks. I have been wanting to see it, but after-work hours are precious in the summer with a never-ending list of outdoor to-do items, so finding the time has been difficult. Fearing that this may be its last week, and since it rained most of the day, making the garden too wet for work, this evening was a perfect time to go to the movies.

I had heard good reviews, and thought that it would just be a pleasant movie to watch about two young city-dwellers who give up everything to fulfill a dream of owning a farm.It is that as Molly and John Chester left their comfortable lives of chef and filmmaker to become full-time farmers, but it is so much more. In addition to the magnificent cinematography, it is a story that evolves over seven-years and shows the evolution of the property from a conventional farm where most of the soil was bare and devoid of life, to a thriving living organism that supports an abundance of life. The realities of the journey that entailed failures and tragedies before successes are what make the movie exceptional and an emotional experience for viewers. If you haven't seen it already, I encourage you to find a local showing and become inspired while being reminded of the intricacies and complexities of the natural world of which we as humans can never fully comprehend, but can certainly appreciate and learn to accept.