Our first year as CSA members has come to a sad, and savoury, end as Orchard Hill 
hosted the annual end-of-season pot luck dinner. Mother Nature, whom we had celebrated each week as we collected our food from the farm, rewarded us all with a clear, sunny sky and warm breezes. As they buzzed around my Gredig Orchard's cider, I reminded myself that wasps are an important component in the life cycle of food production and that I’d suffered no stings and very few mosquito bites this summer (our first summer of mowing, rain barrels, evenings on the deck and lolling about on lawn furniture). There was a wide variety of edibles to choose from, most of which were prepared using ingredients picked from the very land on which we were gathering, as well as fresh, cool minty tea (thanks to Martha!). 
For our contribution to the meal, I had quickly stirred myself into a corner. Having spent much time talking about, and preparing, what ended up being a remarkably gummy and tasteless mushroom risotto, I was rescued at the 11th hour by Robin making his yummy salad (thanks to Soo for “tele-cook” support, just the same). After giving silent thanks, we perched on hay
bales, sat on the ground or on our lawn chairs, and enjoyed everyone’s cooking while basking in the warm, Indian summer sun. As sweet as the day was, it did signify the end of the season for us CSA members, and we wandered down to take one last gander at the hens and verdant fields. 
Fortunately, the farm is not shot of us yet; we’ll soon be back to help raise the structure for a cabin being built on-site for apprentices.Stay tuned - the farm has not closed it gates yet!
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