an eclectic harvest

No pumpkins, no squash. no corn cobs. It might say Octubre on the calendar, but in my garden the date is irrelevant.

Alternating heavy rains with brilliant sunshine keeps mi jardin abundantly fruitful with not so usual autumn crops. My horn of plenty is filled with an eclectic october harvest:

Lemongrass, pictured above in foreground, after its haircut. Instead of simply trimming the browning ends, i decided to preserve some of this lusciously fragrant herb for later use, or for gifting.
I chopped some into pieces to freeze, bundled others to dry.

Lemony blades were everywhere when my assistant showed up to taste test.

tangy, like a tropical catnip

Better than squash, a new favorito mio is chayote (rhymes with coyote). This beautiful fruta loca grows on long luxurious vines, dangling from an overhead ramada (in the background of my garden photo above).

A flavor comparable to a summer squash yet more nutty, we enjoy chayote cooked in casseroles, diced in omelets, or simply sauteed in garlic and olive oil.

In between rains while the garden is drying out, we find time to get out for a beach day, or a volcano hike, and soak up the October sun.