Dear friends,
We were blessed with an Indian Summer during September. The weather the last few days has shown us what lays ahead: dark, cold and wind. Still, as nature slows, this is also a time for us to reflect and nourish our souls which is not a bad thing.
Time to start putting the garden to bed and harvest the remaining veggies. There is still plenty of colour from my late Dad’s favourite flowers, the marigolds. The echinacea, cosmos, osteospermums, chrysanthemums and roses also look pretty.
I write this newsletter as I look to harvest my sweetcorn, leaving the parsnips and the beetroot in the ground for when needed. Winter potatoes are in the ground with the winter greens going in in the next few days. Onion sets and garlic bulbs will go in on a monthly basis starting at the end of October through to the end of January 2022.
A new recipe this month to utilise those gluts of courgettes, the Red Lentil & Courgette Dal. So quick and easy to make:
With the leftovers, I made these wholesome gluten-free Paranthas:
I intended to share a few more recipes, but I ended up cooking/baking my favourites from my existing repertoire on UVO. Top of that list was Elderberry syrup, but the berries were late to ripen, and then time passed me by. However, I have carried out the tedious work of preparing the berries, which now sit in my freezer ready to be turned into syrup, chutney and jam.
I was delighted Wiltshire Life featured UVO’s pakora recipe in their supplement, “A Year of Recipes: a selection of seasonal recipes from Wiltshire’s finest chefs,” produced as part of the 75th Anniversary Edition of the magazine. The PDF will be available sometime this month when I will post it on my blog, ushasveryown.com.
With my love of photography, I was pleased to see a photo I took in the summer depicting wildflowers in local hedgerows was featured on the cover of the September issue of our village magazine, Burbage News:
A quote for Autumn from another passion of mine, Qigong, taken from The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine:
“Autumn is the time to gather one’s spirit and energy, to be more focused and not allow desires to run wild. Keep the lung energy full, clean and quiet”
Please continue to share my Instagram, Facebook and site with others.
Until next time…
Love,