A leaf blower’s faint banshee whine in the distance. The sharp and not so subtle pain of an errant acorn under a bare foot. The first sighting of burnt orange way up there, near the top of a tree, eliciting in each and every one of us that indescribable ache centered deep in our chest. The heartbeat of summer still a quick nearby memory as cool mornings memorialize family outings and brief get togethers. Wintry thoughts creeping in, when these early fall flames are barely embers of what’s to come. But listen, even squirrels and crows know that the harvest has just begun, is plenty big, and not nearly over. Nature’s summer bounty always says goodbye with a big heaping hello. So, what have we?
As you know, local farms & gardens are the backbone of Double L. A handshake or a smile is the only contract between us. Ten some odd years ago, maybe more, a lady named Nancy walked up to me when I was roadside in Southport, asking if she could grow for me. I said sure and through the years she expanded a large garden into a 4 acre farm. At the moment she is picking tender flat beans, squash, tomatoes, collards and chard, assorted peppers, eggplants too. I stop by her little farm every morning on my way in. She has a late crop of lettuce coming in soon.
And this isn’t the only story, there’s so many others. Alex, who’s got corn till frost, and Alec who forages for mushrooms up near Danbury, and Fred in Cheshire, with a late pick of peaches. Why, Jake, he’s picking peaches for us in Bethlehem, PA because his father retired there from Hartford and planted peach and apple trees on the side of a hill. Our tomatoes come from all over. CT, NJ, PA, NY- harvests abound. We support nearly 100 local farms and small businesses.
The point I’m trying to make? Come in with an open mind. Every vegetable and every piece of fruit is at its peak and picked by someone with a passion for what they’re doing. Throw away the menu, go with the flow, go with the pick. What do you say? Let’s make it up on the spot.
At the top of the list, Midnight Roma tomatoes are driving everyone wild; quartered, salted add oil. Next, flat beans, green or yellow, are sweet, cooked with onions, or try leeks sautéed in olive oil, drizzled with balsamic laying next o a NY strip steak, or try halibut crusted with herbs and baked. Or, how about a big piece of cod laid in a simmering sauté of fresh tomatoes, sweet peppers, onion snd kalamata olives? Patty pan squash, steamed or grilled. Roasted purple carrots, or beets, steamed and quartered, added to a salad of mixed greens and chèvre? Watermelon with feta and heirloom tomatoes? Sweet corn and lima beans! Escarole and bean soup, collards in garlic mashed potatoes; kale, chopped fine and blended into quinoa? Best of all, it’s healthy and good and we deserve it all. Yes, we do.