Even Ice Cream in Virginia
By Michelle Maggiore
SCOTTSVILLE, VA - I have already frozen a sweet potato pie (the sweet potatoes are from our garden) and my butternut squash has held up well from a July harvest; I'm hoping it can make it a couple more weeks. Lots of good greens in the garden: four sails and four seasons lettuce, spinach, arugula, lemon balm (just a little is nice, mixed in) a few mints, and some red mustard for spice. For cooked greens we have kale, though it's mighty small right now. For beverages we have tea (apple mint) and local cider - they might get mixed together, for the kids. And if anyone needs coffee (not local) they are going to get hazelnut extract in it from our hazelnuts (local)!
We have pecans from our auntie and need to find some local potatoes to mash, as we just finished our store of them. We're hoping to go fishing before then for the main course, with herbs from the garden, and a hint of butter made of milk from the local family dairy farm. Depending upon the weather, we may make ice cream from local milk, too with some of the honey from our hives. Trying not to finish the apple wine (apples from Carter's Mountain 15 miles away) and lemon-balm beer before the big day . . . the sugar and yeast in them, however, are not local. Cheers!
