Dear Customers,
What an odd summer we just had! The month of June featured rain- and lots of it. It got so that people were clamoring for a glimpse of the sun, even if the skies were only partly cloudy.
Then, near the end of June and continuing on into July and August it was NOTHING BUT sun and scorching temperatures to boot! The combination of dry vegetable gardens, dry flower gardens and a rapidly evaporating swimming pool led me to a ‘higher than normal’ utility bill. I’m sure many of you were in the same boat. I’ll try to remember this when winter’s chill hits the air.
Mid-September is often the time of year when gardens are nearing the end of their production. I harvested my hot wax peppers a month ago and made “ringers” in sauce and a batch of hot mustard. Both came out great. We had cucumbers prolifically to the point that we gave away more than we ate! Tomatoes, though, due to the sketchy growing season (too much rain, followed by drought) were sporadic and yielded a less than impressive harvest.
The dry months also wreaked havoc on the wild blackberry crop. They need a certain amount of rain to be plump and juicy. But, in the off chance that you found a nice patch, here’s a recipe that you should really enjoy.
| 1.5 cups blackberries | 1.5 cups raspberries | 1.5 cups blueberries |
| ¼ cup sugar | 2 cups flour | 2 cups rolled oats |
| 1.5 cups brown sugar (packed) | 1 tsp ground cinnamon | ½ tsp ground nutmeg 1.5 cups cold butter cubed |
Preheat oven to 350°F. Gently toss berries and sugar in large bowl; set aside. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg in a separate bowl. Cut in the butter with 2 knives until crumble mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press half of the Crumble into bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Cover with berry mixture and sprinkle remaining Crumble over berries. Bake for 30-40 minutes and serve with whipped cream!