Fresh Pressed Cider and other Glories Fall

Dew has been coating every outdoor surface for the last few weeks, the folks in town have experienced a couple of light frosts, trees have exploded with vibrant color, and my usual attire has been modified to include my waxed cotton fedora and rain jacket. Fall has arrived on the island my friends, and with it comes the annual apple harvest, a true treasure of the season. Fortunately for us, there is a local orchard that is just down the road, and on my route to and from work.




Apples are something that I was not expecting to find all that different. After all, an apple is an apple right? Well, I must admit, that was prior to tasting apples fresh from the tree. The apple season starts around the end of September with the earliest apples being the Jona’s Red. These apples are exceptionally juicy. When they are fresh picked, they are crunchy and sweet. They soften over 3 days by which time the juice can be seen running down chins as people enjoy them. Just about the time you are really getting used to having them fresh daily, their season is over and the Cortlands and Honeycrisps have arrived followed quickly by the Spartans and MacIntosh. It is apple heaven, and the arrival of the MacIntosh heralds the arrival of fresh pressed cider.




Let’s talk about cider for a moment. If your image of cider is from a large glass jug in the store, then you are as mistaken as I was regarding the joys of fresh cider. The cider from our neighborhood orchard is pressed and slightly filtered but not pasteurized. It is a blend of the late season apples and has a crisp sweet-tart flavor that is extremely refreshing. Like the apples, it is here for a short while and then gone again. It is like the harvest season, it arrives with a bang and is out the door almost as quickly.




The fall also marks the harvest season for the crops you have nurtured along all summer. Our little garden has treated us well, and with a little luck I can extend the season through until the snow flies. We have had plenty of broccoli, bell peppers, lettuce, and jalapenos from the garden for the last 2 months. I planted things in succession so the crops have arrived in a staggered fashion preventing us from being overwhelmed by any single crop (jalapenos excepted). The tomatoes have had a bit of a rough time, primarily due to my late planting and a cool wet summer. We have gotten some from the vines, but for the most part they have remained green and firm, teasing us with their unrealized potential. The carrots have gotten long and firm, growing deep into the loose soil, and I was genuinely surprised by the number of potatoes that I was able to harvest from four small plants. The corn looked great, but we let it sit out one night to many and the raccoons came through and helped themselves to every stalk, lesson learned. Thankfully, the local vegetable stand (Webb’s vegetables) had plenty of corn for us and they did not get raided by varmints. Their stand has gone from offering lettuce and corn to late season tomatoes and pumpkins. It is a popular spot on the main highway and they are always busy with customers dropping by for weekly produce for as long as Webb’s can keep it coming.

Of course another glory of the fall is the exuberant display of color the trees put on when the days begin to shorten. My favorite color has to be the vibrant red and fluorescent orange of the sugar maples. These line the roadway on my drive to work so I find that I must focus exceptionally hard on my driving so as not to be distracted by the show. It we are lucky and the winds do not blow too hard too soon, the color will stay around for a month. Like everything else, it will pass quickly so you have to enjoy the moment while it is here. That is the lesson of the island for us for the last year, and we are making the most of the moment while it is here.

Signs of Fall

The Lobster boats are out of the water and the potatoes are coming out of the field, these are sure signs that fall is in full swing on Prince Edward Island (PEI). It seems that every day the colors on the trees become deeper and the air is cooling off. The drive to and from work are some of the best times of the day to look at the color. The low angle light in the morning and the evening really bring out the colors in the trees which makes it more difficult to keep focused on the road as I drive. Likewise, if you were behind me watching you might think that I had a bit of a ‘tic’ as you watch my head swivel left and right trying to see everything. Everyone tells me to enjoy the colors because they are not long for the island and in a very short time the winds of winter will blow and all the color will carpet the lawn announcing the beginning of the hard cold winter.

Since PEI is such a small island you end up living very close to the land. Just down the road the lobster man has pulled out his boat and his lobster traps in preparation for winter. Our neighbor across the street has not pulled his boat yet, he still has some work this year. He is a fisherman, he fishes oysters in the early fall both wild and raised, then mussels in November, mackerel in December, and then the boat comes out of the water. He has his cultured oysters across the road from us in the bay, and he works them quite a bit right now. He starts by situating floating columns (called the clutch) over the oyster bed and as the oysters reproduce, the small larvae eventually seek a strong firm surface upon which to cling where they spend their first year on the clutch. In the fall he scrapes down the clutch so the maturing oysters fall into the bed where they continue to grow until they are two or more inches long (usually two years). In the fall, he scrapes down the clutch, and then uses the oyster tongs to harvest the oysters from the bottom. For any of the small oysters they get tossed back and only the big ones are kept. It is hard work, and when the wind is blowing, the rain is falling; it becomes very apparent that the fisherman is a tough fellow. There are two types of oyster fishermen for oysters, those that have a lease can harvest from one spot where they have enriched the supply. For others, they harvest form the wild. They find a spot, and work it all day, then move to another spot. On the first day of the season you can see many folks in one space harvesting the wild oysters, but after day one, the ‘Oyster Farmers’ head to their lease while the wild oystermen continue their work.

The fall harvest does not just contain the lobster and the oyster, it also contains the root crops-carrots and potatoes. We have a small potato field behind the house and we have been waiting for them to harvest the field. You see, when a field is harvested there are many potatoes that get left behind, and once the harvesters are out of the field, these leftover potatoes are free for the taking. They harvested the potatoes yesterday and so this morning Nancy was out in the field gathering the free potatoes. You have to get out there early so that you can get them before they start to turn green, and you have to be careful to pick those potatoes that are not cut or otherwise damaged. We picked up potatoes for the morning and have them spread out in the garage drying before we bag them into paper sacks and place them in the basement for winter storage. It is an island tradition, and the fresh potatoes are very good. The farmers harvest their potatoes, knock most of the dirt off of them, and then store them in a potato shed. These sheds remind me of barracks from the Marine Corps and they are filled floor to ceiling with potatoes. It is an interesting sight to see folks loading these sheds with potatoes. The farmers work morning till night and the days are often 18 hours long. The goal is to get the harvest in before the weather turns ugly and the rains come (effectively ruining the crop in the field). Just like the fishermen, the farmers work from before sun up until after sunset and so whenever I see them in the emergency room, it is usually either very early or very late.

If you have not taken a look at the photo pages lately, take a click on the slide show and enjoy the photos of fall as well as photos of the harvest and the local farmers market (where we are buying as much as we can). Stay tuned for a guest blog in the very near future.

Seven layer what?

I have heard of seven layer cake, seven layer dip, and even seven layer salads. What I have never heard of is seven layer dinner. That’s right, seven layer dinner.

Why do I mention this?

Well, yesterday evening when I was on call at the hospital, I wandered down to the cafeteria for a little something extra to go along with my homemade sandwich. I was hoping for a little soup or something along those lines. As usual I inquired about the offerings for the evening and was told that they had barley soup, homemade pizza, and seven layer dinner. I guess my face did not hide my complete and utter ignorance, because the ladies in the kitchen all chuckled at the queer face I must have been making.

Seven layer dinner?

Yes I had heard them correctly, it was in fact seven layer dinner. What pray tell is seven layer dinner you ask? Well let me tell you friends it is nothing like seven layer cake. The seven layers of the dinner refer to the layers of ingredients with which you line the casserole dish. In the case of our hospital, the kitchen had chosen the fresh veggies that are currently available throughout the countryside at any of the many roadside stands. It begins with potato halves, then green beans followed by bell peppers, corn, peas, macaroni noodles, tomatoes, and ground beef. When it is dished up it looks a lot like any other casserole you have ever seen. Since I had never heard of such a thing, I immediately went to Google to find out more about this culinary invention, and I found several different versions of the same basic process. Like any good recipe it is easily modified, and so I found the following options for the dinners.
1 c. rice

1 c. whole kernel corn

1/2 (5 oz.) can tomato sauce

Salt and pepper

1/4 c. chopped onion

1/4 c. chopped green peppers

1/2 (5 oz.) can tomato sauce

3/4 to 1 lb. ground beef, partially cooked

4 to 6 strips of bacon on top

1 1/2 lbs. hamburger

1 c. green beans, drained

1 c. kernel corn, drained

1 c. sweet peas, drained

6 servings of instant mashed potatoes

1 c. spaghetti sauce

Salt & pepper

2 c. sliced potatoes

1 c. sliced carrots

1 c. chopped onion

1 lb. hamburger - browned

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 c. raw rice

1 c. chopped celery

1/2 c. chopped green pepper

1 qt. tomatoes

1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
3 potatoes, sliced
1 onion, sliced into rings
2 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 (15 ounce) can green peas, with liquid
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can water
1 pound pork sausage, sliced and browned
salt and pepper to taste

As you can see, there are many options for the seven layers of deliciousness that could have come you way in the cafeteria, but I having a sandwich already opted for the barley soup in a cup.

While on the subject, I should make it very clear that life in a small town hospital is infinitely more fun than you would possibly expect. For instance, the cafeteria is run by the same ladies who have been there for ages, and all the meals are made from scratch using as much local produce, meat etc as possible. The meals, while different from the fare of Texas, are none the less satisfying and very good. The next nice thing is that in very short order you know absolutely everyone in the place, and there are no longer any strangers. You see these folks whenever you are out and about in town, and when you are out for a walk on the trail. Each and every one of them is ready and willing to help you with anything in which you might be interested.

As an example, I am very interested in getting some wool sweaters made prior to the arrival of winter. The woolen mill where we had gone came across two sweaters that they thought might fit me, and so when Nancy ran into the manager in the grocery, she mentioned this to her. She had put them back and was preparing to call me at the clinic to let me know that she had them and I should come try them on. During their conversation, they realized that with my schedule I would not be by the mill for some time, so they gave the sweaters to Nancy to bring to me for fitting. Understand that these are fantastic sweaters that are probably worth $300 or more in the states, and they just handed them over and said give them a try. We did in fact try them on and I am keeping one of them, a pullover that is very nice. We have looked at some other places for sweaters, but they are all marked up far too much for my taste, so I put the word out that I would be interested in “commissioning” some sweaters from any of the knitters in town. I have several names which I will be going through this week to see who has the time and inclination to knit some sweaters for me this year. I can assure you they will be very warm, very pretty and a whole lot less than the ones in the store.

Very soon I will post some photos of the hospital on the blog so you can get a better feel for my life north of the 40th parallel.