dahlia bouquets

photographs and words by rebecca wood

moonflower pods

photograph by rinne allen

old feed and seed

recently, while i was working in central north carolina, i took the backroads on the way home, which is always the best choice. i drove through town after town of old mills and general stores that were shuttered. in my dreams, they would all be rehabilitated and brought back to life…maybe one day. i pulled over for this building though, as it reminded me of one of the most oft photographed buildings in hale county, alabama...

words and photographs by rinne allen

seedheads

photograph by rinne allen

harvesting saffron

our neighbor lauren has been growing saffron for over 10 years.  there is this patch of purple blooms that pop up out of nowhwere....right about now.  last week I visited with her as she meticulously harvested each frond.  saffron is harvested from the crocus plant.  each flower produces about 3-4 fronds of saffron which shows you why this is the most valuable spice!  thanks lauren for letting me chat saffron with you!

a favorite interior

photograph by kristin karch

ikebana

photographs by rinne allen

passion flower

photograph by rinne allen

arrow apple festival

for the last five years, arrow has hosted an annual apple festival, celebrating apple harvest time, and the fall season, for our community...

this year's festival was this past saturday and we had a beautiful fall day and saw lots of friends!

each year, arrow sells mountain apples from ellijay, georgia as a fundraiser, as well as fresh cider. there is also an apple pie contest where many restaurants and friends bake pies...yum! Also annually, amanda kapousouz serenades us with her fiddle tunes and our friend bird smith (age 9) cuts an apple themed block for us to print from...!

it is such a fun day... !

photographs by kristin karch, words by rinne allen

marigolds

photograph by rinne allen

fall wreaths

a few falls ago, we had a great time adding things to simple grapevine wreaths. we cut the marigolds to have about a 2" stem...then we just stuck them through the grapevine...ditto with the magnolia leaves and fall foliage. there's no limit to what you could do! even if it only lasts for a special dinner party, it's worth it in fun!

photographs and words by rebecca wood

panther creek

photograph by rinne allen

autumn palette

fall is starting softly here. a bright color is hard to spot. we've had lots of rainy days, but not much crisp weather. the pallet is muted and subtle. i wish i could blow each of these pictures up to room size and just dream away on the loveliness!

summer daydream cobbler

photograph by rinne allen

mimi's dahlia farm

this is where we all learned to love dahlias. our friend mimi, and her late husband, gary, started growing dahlias a few years ago. it was the first place i ever saw mass quantities of dahlias growing, and i've been in love ever since. her place is a wonderful country drive away and down a red dirt road. the house and outbuildings are from the 1850's, when it used to be a 1300 acre plantation.

october is prime dahlia time, with blue blue skies to enjoy it in.

photos and words by rebecca wood

prepping apples

photograph by rinne allen

color study

photographs by rinne allen

fall color

photograph by rinne allen

roasted green tomato and pepper chili

we have had a little cold snap move in which calls for harvesting all of our summer crops and making some slow cooked comfort foods!  this weekend we harvested all of what was left of the tomatoes and peppers and roasted them for the season's first chili. we served sprinkled some sharp cheddar cheese on top and some saltine crackers.  The only thing missing was some hot cast iron cornbread!

ingredients
4-6 (or more) green tomatoes
3-4 peppers
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of white pinto beans, drained
1 can of red pinto beans, drained
1 large can of stewed tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 Tbsp (or more to taste) chili powder
3-4 cups (more or less) veggie stock or water
salt to taste
hot sauce, optional

directions
-pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
-dice green tomatoes
-put whole peppers and diced tomatoes in a roasting pan and coat vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with some salt
-roast for 20 minutes
-while roasting, dice an onion and saute in a large stock pot
-remove roasting veggies from oven
-peel and seed the peppers and slice
-add tomatoes and sliced peppers to the large stock pot
-add vegetable stock/water, beans, tomatoes, chili powder and salt to the stock pot
-let simmer for a few hours or put in a crock pot to slow cook.

photographs and recipe by kristen bach

field of wheat

photograph by rinne allen