For those of you who have been zipping along doing the normal whatever-happens-daily routine, take a quick break, and look outside to see that the weather has changed. I know that last month I talked about the changing seasons, but for some of us (me included), it takes longer than for others to be at peace with this yearly transformation.

Abundance takes on many shapes during this seasonal change. Be on the lookout!

Abundance in Community

The shape of a community ranges from very small to very large, from those that are created because of proximity (the people who share your living space, the people in your neighborhood, city, county, state, country) to those that are formed by people's shared interests (animals, sports, religion, values, interests, etc.).

Abundance of food generally requires abundance in a community. Some people grow the food, some people purchase or receive the food, some people process the food, and all people eat food.

I'd like to suggest that all of these activities are more fulfilling when one partakes of them within a community. Look around this fall and think about how you can partake of food abundance while increasing your participation in a community with your family, friends, etc. Invite someone over and make dinner together, harvest your garden with some neighborhood kids and share the bounty, volunteer with others to pick food that will go to a local food closet, or visit a local farm to harvest their bounty, and can, juice, or dehydrate it together with a friend. We consider gardening in our front yard to be synonymous with growing community as we end up spending much of the time out front talking to our neighbors instead of getting plants in the ground. It's worth making that mind-shift to realize that it's not always about the plants in your garden but the seeds you are growing.

Clearing out the Garden

October is a common month to have a harvest festival as that's the month people are vigorously harvesting the last of the summer crops. When you harvest 'the last of the crops', a lot of produce comes out of the garden. If you can't eat it all, nourish your friends, neighbors, and others in your community with these summer-end bumper harvests. Invite someone over to help you make tomato sauce or pesto. Invite some kids over to harvest pumpkins in your pumpkin patch. Last year, each neighborhood kid wheeled home a pumpkin using our handtruck they were too big to carry!

Last week we had someone over for dinner. Instead of having dinner already prepared, my housemate took this friend outside to help collect and make dinner. They picked some basil and sat at the picnic table stripping the basil from the stems. Afterwards, they wandered inside and finished making the pesto and then proceeded to help me wash and slice 20 lbs of tomatoes that I was using to can this year's supply of pizza sauce. I can honestly say that the time spent stripping basil and prepping tomatoes was greatly enhanced by enjoying these activities in 'community'.

Raining Apples

Although some apples come in as early as July, it's sometime in late September or early October that I am personally ready to enjoy eating an apple. The farmers at the Farmers' Markets sell numerous kinds of apples  Taste them and figure out what you like. Ask if you can purchase a large box at a discounted price so that you can make applesauce, apple butter, apple juice, and dried apples. Or ask around in your community.  Maybe someone has an apple tree that has way too many apples for them. Or, volunteer with Village Harvest; pick apples for the hungry and come home with the culls that dont make it to the local food closets.

We nourished our local neighborhood this month by handing out to our neighbors boxes of culls from a Village Harvest event. We heard stories about applesauce  and then loaned out our juicer around the neighborhood so that everyone could enjoy fresh squeezed apple juice. Standing around cutting worm holes out of apples is a bit of work but is made easier with helping hands and good conversation.

Dehydrating apples is fairly simple. Either (1) purchase an all-in-1 corer, slicer, peeler, (2) peel the apples by hand, or (3) leave the peel on. The all-in-1 gizmos only work if the apple is hard and the core hasn't been eaten by worms. I usually leave the peel on (which is easier and great for the nutrients) and slice out the core by cutting a box around the core. I.e, make two long cuts on 2 sides of the core and 2 short cuts on the other two sides of the core. Turn those pieces flat on a cutting board and slice into even slices. Place the slices into a dehydrator set at 135 degrees F and leave them in for 12-20 hours. Timing will vary greatly by humidity levels and amount of moisture in your apples.

Berry Pie

Although berry pie seems like a summer item, it is my favorite pie, and its season can be extended all winter long by freezing berries during the summer. My birthday is at the end of October and I have to say that berry pie at the end of October is fabulous. Your taste may vary! It's a great way to enjoy and extend the summer abundance into other seasons. To make a delicious berry pie, make or buy a crust. Combine about 1 quart of berries (frozen at this time of year), 1 cup sugar (more-or-less depending upon how sweet your berries are), and 2 T of flour. Pour this mixture into the pie crust and dot with 2 t of butter. Bake 375 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes. Note that we use one crust, not two, but if you want to cover the pie with a crust, go ahead!

We've tried various thickeners including flour, tapioca (flakes, not the balls,  although we did that one year and ended up with a crunchy pie), cornstarch, and arrowroot. Using frozen berries often makes the pie a little soupy regardless of how much thickener you use. I believe the other trick is that you're supposed to let the pie cool in order to set. That's great in theory and I've seen it work, but there is no way that we are waiting to eat cold pie! So, each year, we end up with a warm berry soup in a pie crust. The texture is a bit soupy, but the taste of the local, summer berries which were frozen to be enjoyed at this moment, is unsurpassable!

Speaking of berries, abundance, and community, here’s the scoop on “B Berry”. “B” has decided that she’d like to be a full-fledged member of her community and therefore be addressed by her “real” name — Susan Osofsky. All of of B’s columns have been true renditions of a day-in-Susan’s-life. So, although B Berry is a delicious pseudonym, it’s time to draw the curtain on B and continue the column from Susan’s point-of-view. To the reader, everything will remain the same – but to me, I’ll be a real person in your community.

Be Happy, Be Abundant,
Susan