This was the view from the blueberry field at Green Mountain Orchards yesterday morning!
I woke this morning to the sound of rain, which is what I associate with fall in the Pacific Northwest. The sound of rain, the sight of jack-o-lanterns, the taste of hot apple cider, and the smell of leaf rot.
This past week I added several new things to my fall associations list, in the New England category: the sight of red sugar maple leaves against blue sky, the taste of fresh apple cider donuts, the smell of walks in deciduous woods during senescence, and the feel of blankets draped around me to extend outdoor hang outs. There’s also my friends finding gargantuan edible mushrooms and putting up apple butter and gifting both. These are the things one does this time of year. And by “one”, I mean nearly everyone I know. (I was also gifted a 12 pack of pint jars as a housewarming gift. I’ve become quite reliant on them for food storage, but didn’t feel like hauling my collection across the country. I figured I’d just stock up again when I got here. I had no idea that they’re in such short supply and what a precious gift this was!)
I was gifted foraged maitake and oyster mushrooms foraged by friends this weekend!
This week I caught snatches of this beautiful Vermont autumn at the edges of, and breaks in, my workdays. But yesterday I went full in and savored a perfect fall day. When I crawled out of bed I saw pink skies, so I threw on boots and a coat and walked to my new favorite sunrise spot.
Yesterday’s sunrise was spectacular!
Then I had a hearty breakfast and drove to Putney, the next town to the north to pick half-price late season blueberries at Green Mountain Orchards. I was warned it was pretty much gleaning at this point, but there were indeed berries. I discovered that the strategy is different this late in the year: pick now, pick over later. The berries are easier to spot because the leaves are scarlet and many have fallen off. But the berries are also tiny and some are past their prime. So I just used my mittened hands to pick clusters of them, knowing I’d pick out the stems, leaves, and shriveled duds. I was alone in the berry bushes for a while before a local man and his three-year-old arrived by cargo bike to pick berries for their oatmeal. Biking to berries. So Vemont.
Blue sky fall day for blueberry picking! Late in the season, but I still found berries!
At the farm stand the scent of warm donuts was hanging in the air. It was one of the few times in my life when I eyed the pastry case and decided to not decide. “I’ll take one of each,” I said. “Actually, let’s make that four of the apple cider donuts.” I gifted donuts to my landlady and her son when I got home, but I confess I ate two of those donuts in the car on the drive home! It was a good life choice. When I first arrived in Portland I went on a mission with my pal Baker to find the best donuts in the metro area and since we were both planning nerds it was a fun way to explore. There the old fashioned was the standard, but here it might be the apple cider donut. Those ones from Green Mountain Orchards will be hard to beat!
Back home I sat in the sunshine on my stoop and picked over the berries while the chickens scavenged around nearby and Raffi did his best to avoid getting into spats with any of them. (Only the smallest is smaller than him and I’m guessing the roo, Vinnie, is a good four times as big as Raffi!) The chickens have overdosed on apples at this point, but they were very curious about blueberries!
Then I made my favorite gluten free olive oil almond cake, substituting apple cider for the typical lemon, and topped it with fresh blueberries. A friend from the Mad River Valley and a friend of hers who lives in Brattleboro (hopefully a new friend of mine) joined me for a hang out in the sunshine and we munched on cake and apples and fancy cheese from the farmstand. Since my friend from the Mad River Valley knows another of my friends who lives here in Brattleboro we caravanned to her house to surprise her with friends and baked treats.
This path has so intrigued me and yesterday I discovered that I know the folks who own the land and they took me for a walk here. Glorious!
Just as we shifted towards the golden hour, I met my new nextdoor neighbors in real life. I’d already connected with them virtually through a chance Craigslist ad, only to discover mutual friends would have connected us eventually if I hadn’t moved in next door! They took me for a walk on their land, which I’d passed on earlier walks and been so curious to explore. Back home I had supper, tidied up my baking mess, and read for a while before bed. I’m so grateful to have caught these magical moments of Leaf Season because with the rains Stick Season is on it’s way!
