Maine Event: Day 42

Sep 27, 2021 · Maine Event

It was finally cool and crisp today in Portland. The morning air was quite refreshing and the Ash trees are all turning yellow and losing their leaves. The sweet leaf smell is still barely detectable - I can hardly wait. The majestic red oaks have not turned a single leaf although their gleaming green is getting duller and any second now they will turn red is my guess. I really love the trees here. Portland, as a city, appreciates huge trees and gets the wires to work with the trees rather than hacking them into odd shapes or planting popsicle trees. Here is the recommended city tree list for Portland Maine.

While walking we found a Shagbark Hickory tree. Wowie they are super tall and majestic trees. This particular one was a front yard tree with just the long trunk going up and up and up and then the tree part of it way at the top. Note that Hickory trees are not included as a recommended street tree :)

We went for our early morning walk to the garden and the shadows are very long at this season. It was cool enough I almost needed my beret. At the end of the day, we made a delicious lentil soup. One of our regular rotations: red sweet pepper, celery, carrot, and onion, and two whole stems of parsley and a bay leaf. The amounts are equal amounts of carrot, onion, and celery and twice as much red pepper. A cup or so of the little green lentils and 4 cups of homemade chicken stock. Cook the pepper until it is just starting to get some color and add a teaspoon of cumin and a bunch of black pepper and cook that for a minute or so. Then add all other ingredients and let it come to a simmer and cook for a half-hour or until the lentils are as cooked as you like them. At home, we cook it with three cups of stock and whirr the soup a little to thicken it then add the fourth cup to loosen it. Here we don't have a whirrer of any type or even a masher so we just add it all and cook it. Delicious especially with garlic toast.

Then we went for a walk with Rosemary around the West End but by then it was dark and the city cats were out along with a few dog walkers.

Dino kale looking particularly monsterish.