I’ve been holding out on you. I know you’ve been worried, what with the failure of the cherry crop—and the peaches and the apricots and the hay and the honey—that we’d be wasting away Around Here. No such thing. We have had chickens and eggs and cheese and other excellent treats. Just a couple weeks ago I stopped at King Orchards and bought corn and tomatoes and raspberries and apples. OK, and pie.
Then I took the Disreputable Duo for a walk at Antrim Creek, which took me right past the Verdant Ground farmstand, and naturally I had to stop. Looky here.
A Bag O’ Salsa kit (two heirloom tomatoes, two pretty little red onions, a sneaky pepper, a tiny bit of cilantro, and a lime) is a wonderful idea. Everything you need, all in one bag. Chop chop, munch munch. And it was very good on scrambled eggs wrapped in a tortilla with a little cheese. Very good indeed.
I know, you want to know about the lime. We have had odd weather, but we are not yet running to lime orchards in Michigan. The lime was a little surprise, an imported gift, quite possibly from distant California. All the other stuff, though, came right out of the fields behind the tiny farmstand. Earlier in the summer the stand had Pesto Kits. Next year the line might be extended to Bag O’ Pasta Sauce or Bag O’ Bruschetta Topping. You never can tell.
When we got back home there was time for a walk on the beach as twilight gathered. Some days are very good. I hope you’ve been having some of those, too.
The Cowboy is damp, but alert
Miss Sadie remains tidy and observant
Slowly but surely the toys are disappearing. Must be the end of summer.
Torch Lake Views 
Heather
October 1, 2012
Which reminds me – I need to get back to my favorite orchard for some more honeycrisps! I would consider baking something with them if I could ever sneak them past myself without eating them 😉
Gerry
October 1, 2012
Now that’s interesting. I love pretty much all apples, most of them eaten right out of my grubby little paw, but when it comes to Honeycrisps . . . I am less wild about them than the rest of the world is. Except when they are baked into a pie. Honeycrisp apple pie is a fine thing, right up there with balaton cherry pie. And I like Honeycrisp applesauce, too. Tastebuds are astonishing things.
Buy twice as many Honeycrisps and make a pie with whatever you have left when you get home. You won’t be disappointed.
Heather
October 1, 2012
I am only crazy about them from one orchard on the peninsula. The rest I like, but from that orchard I am helpless. I think you have nudged me just enough on that pie – it’s officially on the to-do list.
Gerry
October 1, 2012
Good. I’ll bring the Shetler’s vanilla ice cream then, shall I?
Heather
October 1, 2012
I can’t say no to Shetler’s.
Dawn
October 1, 2012
Now that last photo would have been PERFECT for Scott’s end of summer challenge! Did you play? Say hi to Cowboy and Sadie from me and Katie…
Gerry
October 1, 2012
I did not play. I am so far behind on playdates that I will have to arrange an entirely new second childhood just to catch up. But I did lurk in the underbrush seeing what everyone else posted. I’ve been a stealth blogger this summer.
The Cowboy and Miss Sadie say hello back.
Joss
October 2, 2012
We don’t have people produce by the side of the road round here, but we do have regular farmers’ markets. I now feel inspired to visit one, except there aren’t usually many vegetables on sale. I suppose round here there’s more livestock than arable, and I’m not all that excited by meat. Still, looks like you had a good time with your salsa pack. What a clever idea to inspire people to cook something different.
Gerry
October 2, 2012
We are spoiled for choice. Verdant Ground grows not just root and leafy vegetables and squash but many kinds of beans, from edamame to shiny black beans that click like jewels when Shirley pours them into my hand. Providence Farm grows practically everything, from garlic to beef. (Belted Galloways. They are very handsome.) There are beekeepers and breadmakers and a brilliant eccentric who grows mushrooms. People make maple syrup in the spring. We could use a cheesemaker in the neighborhood. Sometimes I think I missed my calling in that regard.
tootlepedal
October 2, 2012
You seem to be well supplied in spite of the weather. If we’d have to live on what we could have grown in the garden this year, we would be very thin indeed. I liked the lake picture a lot.
Gerry
October 2, 2012
I know what you mean. It has been a very odd year here, too. I am deeply grateful for all the people who grow food Around Here. I would surely starve without them.
I’m so glad you liked the lake picture. It was secretly my favorite.
P.j. grath
October 2, 2012
That IS the perfect end-of-summer photo! I also like the idea of another second childhood. Can we hold that in reserve until finished with current second childhood?
My latest cobbled-together dessert: a layer of apple slices on the bottom of the buttered pan, then a layer of green tomato-raisin-apple mincemeat (from last year), with a streusel topping. Baked. Good for breakfast, too.
The salsa bag was a bit of brilliance.
Gerry
October 2, 2012
I like the way you cobble things together. I may do a bit of cobbling myself this evening. I don’t have homemade mincemeat, but I can improvise.
shoreacres
October 2, 2012
One of the best days of my life was the day I learned there were apple varieties other than red delicious. I do love the honeycrisp, but only the ones I can get from a certain farmers’ market. I think they have a secret connection to the magic orchard. We had wonderful Texas Galas for a while, but then the trees got taken out by cotton root rot. It was a sad day when that happened.
Miss Sadie and the Cowboy look in fine fettle. I’ve been missing them. And ignorant me has to ask – what are those things in the last photo? I’ve never seen anything like them. They have to be more of a lift than a dock, but still… puzzlement, here.
Gerry
October 2, 2012
Working backward, the mysterious metal thingies are lifts for gasoline powered Personal Watercraft (a/k/a jet-skis–their annual departure from the Bay is one of the best things about autumn). The lifts appear to work exactly the way the larger boat hoists do.
I am very sorry that the Texas Galas died. Cotton root rot, for heaven’s sake. I went and looked it up and it’s awful. There’s always something, though, isn’t there. I’ve come to realize that not only individuals–my own self, for example–are mortal, but whole species too. Ah well. While we are here we must make the best of it.
Karma
October 2, 2012
Wowee, raspberries in September/October? How nice! Mine ran out very early this year. And I just love the “kit” idea from the farmstand – how very clever. Glad to hear that you and the duo are doing well and not wasting away! 🙂
Gerry
October 2, 2012
The raspberry photo was in mid-September, but there were some nice ones in the markets as late as last week. There is an “everbearing” raspberry that produces an early crop and another late summer/early fall crop. That berry has been very good to Antrim County growers this year.