Gardens - My Vegetables and My Garden of the Soul

Good morning and Happy Saturday to each of you. It's the weekend, and even though I have to work today, I'll have tomorrow off to attend Renaissance Festival. It should be a lovely day, even though it will be a short one because we'll want to return home for football. Still, some time outdoors with friends and acquaintances, a bowl of Pho from the Vietnamese stall, and music here and there isn't a bad way to spend a Sunday. 

This photo is a bit more classed up than the Pho we 
purchase at Ren Fest, but it's basically the same 
meal. Rice noodles and a meat (we usually choose 
chicken), in a broth. He adds a lot of spicy sauces 
to his bowl, I add a bunch of Hoisin sauce to mine. 

The leaves are beginning to turn - orange and scarlet blazes across the Cities with greens fading into the background and reserved for evergreen trees. Fall is my favorite time of the year - I adore the colors, I like the cooler temperatures, and I love football season, which started last week. There's just something about that little nip of cool air in the mornings, fresh apple cider, cinnamon snapping in the air, pumpkins turning orange - ready for carving and/or cooking. Squash returns to the menu, along with the more robust foods for the season. It's a grand time of the year. 

The majority of trees around me turn orange and red 
in the Fall. Most of them are maples, and maple trees 
are very colorful. I do miss the golden Aspen trees of 
my youth, but I'm stunned by the orange and scarlet 
trees of Minnesota. 

I have to get my latest dehydrator batch pulled out this morning and put into containers so that I can put the dehydrator away in the cabinet once again until the next batch. I had more than 40 habanero peppers that I harvested yesterday and put in to dry. It was a veritable feast of brilliant orange peppers. I can't wait to add them to soups and stews over the winter months.  I also harvested Serrano peppers and ... hmmm ... I'm not remembering the exact type of my red peppers, but they're lovely as well. And one other pepper plant that has really tiny (but very potent) peppers is just coming in for harvest now. I harvested my first few yesterday and added them to the dehydrator batch. 

Here are my peppers cut and ready for the dehydrator. You 
can see I had  2-1/2 shelves of Habanero peppers, but there 
also were red and green peppers and four little guys all on 
their own that probably will be super hot because they're 
so small - LOL. Just an assumption. I haven't tried them 
yet. But I have to get my dehydrator emptied before I leave 
for the shop today. 

So, hot foods for the cold season to come. I'll be using all of these over the winter to add to my soups and stews. Having a garden can be a wonderful thing! But I also have a garden of the soul which is populated by my friends, both near and far. You're the ones I visit time and time again to give me the strength I need and show me the kindness that often is missing in my life. Thank goodness for every one of you! Know this --- you're treasured! Slava Ukraini.