My friend, Michelle, wrote a poem about the joys of putting summer abundance up for cold weather consumption. I am about it, too. I don’t have a pressure cooker and I’m intimidated by the idea of using one. It isn’t something anyone has shown me how to use and it feels like a big deal to ask a friend for training. It seems to be a Big Project tool.

So, I put up small things that don’t require it. Fruit preserves get hot enough to seal the lids that come with adhesive already on them. The vinegar solutions I use for pickles is boiling. So, that works, too.

And we have a chest freezer.

I have a gallon bag of summer tomatoes in there. On December 21, I will thaw those and make a Tomato Pie for our supper on the darkest day of the year. I might find a way to use some peach preserves for dessert.

I enjoy small celebrations of seasonal change. Watching my yard bloom and fruit as the seasons cycle past is very satisfying to me. I don’t ever find myself longing for a season to speed by so we can get to the next one. Living in North Carolina means we usually get all 4 seasons. Though, last winter was pretty stunted.

I won’t lie and say I don’t look forward to temperatures dropping when days have been near 100ºF/38ºC in the summer. Or that I delight in cold rain in the winter. And the erratic behavior of weather that has gotten out of hand as the byproducts of the Industrial Revolution run amuck doesn’t inspire joy.

But, I do enjoy looking out of my warm house at the snow. And I love seeing the flowers in my yard blooming in sequence as the seasons progress. A tomato sandwich and fresh fruit in the summer is happiness in my mouth. There’s satisfaction in the winding down of autumn. Especially knowing there are pickles and preserves waiting for me in the pantry.