A season of picking pumpkins 🎃 & reflection. And also goofy TikTok trends. 🧈

Published: Sun, 10/09/22

Happy Sunday, Rural Sprout readers,

Hoo-boy, I am lovin’ this fall weather. I decided to head up to Buffalo last minute to spend the weekend with my adult kiddo and her hubby. I arrived on Thursday, bringing 70-degree weather behind me and awoke Friday to a crisp 50 degrees coming off of Lake Erie.

Sweater weather is finally here!

As a knitter of 36 years, I eagerly await the arrival of sweater weather. Usually, around mid-September, I begin gently patting my hand-knit sweater collection and whispering, “Soon,” before closing my closet door. Fall is always a relief to me; it signals the end of a long season of work.

I love everything about it. Okay, maybe I could do without the pumpkin spice mania, but far be it from me to deny someone their favorite espresso drink flavor. And I could certainly do without the pressure from the stores to buy, buy, buy for Christmas right this second!

That first frost of the year is coming any day, and I’ve been keeping an eye on the 10-day forecast. I’m eagerly awaiting the first of the frost-kissed Brussels sprouts. They always taste incredible after a frost.

Sure, you can eat Brussels sprouts all year long these days.

But there is still something to be said for eating seasonally. When we choose to eat what is available locally, food remains a gift. It’s still something to be celebrated and savored. The sweet, tender asparagus we eat in March can’t compare to the woody, bland sticks sold in the supermarket this time of year, so the anticipation of March asparagus becomes part of the experience.

In a world of instant gratification, eating seasonally allows us to look forward to something.

Not only that but there is always something new with each season. Right now, it’s all the brassicas whose flavor will change after the first frost. It’s the warm and hearty winter squash we’ve waited all summer for that will be made into pies and soups.

I challenge each of you to try eating seasonally, even if it’s just for a few months.

Eating this way also creates a sense of gratitude, and autumn is most certainly the season of gratitude. While Thanksgiving is still a way off, we can all be thankful for the harvest our gardens provided this year.

Now that the work of the growing season has ended, stand back and admire the work of your hands.

Our attitude naturally changes from one of work to one of rest and reflection. After all, we should take our cue from nature, which is also beginning a period of rest.

Take a moment to reflect and be thankful for the garden we grew, even if the flea beetles ate all of our eggplant this year, or be thankful for the skills we learned which allowed us to can four measly pints of applesauce after hours of work in the kitchen. (You know who you are.) You did it! And that’s worth celebrating.

After all, isn’t that what gratitude is – a quiet celebration of all the people and things that make up our big, complex lives?

My dear Rural Sprout readers, I am grateful for all of you and the community we share. (And I’m grateful for big, hand-knit sweaters.) Take some time to rest. You deserve it.