The bounty of autumn harvest is both exhilarating and overwhelming. In a region where practically everything grows, this season arrives with all the hard work, anticipation and pressure of what to do with all the delicious food. Farmers’ markets are abundant with winter squash, root vegetables and wild mushrooms, and apples, plums and end-of-season berries. It is nearly impossible to choose what to bring home—it’s just all so delicious.
Now more than ever, I appreciate the challenges this year has put on those who grow and make food for us to enjoy. Despite these challenges, our local farmers and harvesters have shown up to feed us—as even in a pandemic, produce still grows and needs to be harvested. Feeling this connection, I can’t help but start humming with recipe ideas and dishes to create a feast for family and friends that pulls together purely local ingredients.
The first place I go to start collecting these local ingredients is the farmers’ market. Dinner ideas already flowing, I anticipate discovering a new ingredient at the peak of ripeness to include in the meal. Showing up early to the market means I can wander the tents before opening, enjoy seeing local chefs dropping by to pick up already-reserved items, and watch the most incredible produce be lovingly placed on tables and in baskets for sale. Once the market opens, the quiet hum of early shoppers makes it easy to quickly purchase all the local ingredients I need for our celebratory Island harvest dinner.
From the farmers’ market, my daughter and I head to the forest to do some foraging. When ingredients are grown together, their flavours complement each other because their terroir is similar. Even very different ingredients have commonalities because they breathe the same air, or experience similar mineral content in the rainwater. This fusion of flavours can allow for some complementary outside-the-box combinations. So while we are on a mission to find some mushrooms, we also discover some wild apples along the way—which is not only a great snack for my daughter, but also inspires the idea of a new stuffing recipe for tonight’s dinner that will pull the wild flavours of the mushrooms and apples together.
We pick up a pork roast from Berryman Brothers Butchers on the way home, bringing along all that we gleaned from our earlier stop at the Moss Street Market: fresh beets and carrots from Square Root Farms, a few bulbs of garlic from Haliburton Farms, a tub of the most delicious water buffalo yogurt from McClintock's Farm, and Blackberry Fleur de Sel from Salt Spring Island Sea Salt.
The result that evening is a feast of all the bounty that our beautiful Island grows. Celebrating around the harvest table with loved ones, we relish the rich scent of local fleur de sel and sage seasoned pork roast and a bowl laden with the wild apple and mushroom Red Fife sourdough stuffing. We dive into the glistening Honey Roasted Golden Beet and Carrot Salad with Buffalo Yogurt Rosemary Dressing, and a fresh plum tart sitting on the sideboard reminds us to save room for dessert. What a beautiful way to celebrate the season together, by honouring our connection to this land and by supporting those who tend it.
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