The first 3 years of living in Vermont for me was about remaking my relationship to home. Amy and I moved here with the idea that it was a “forever move”, but I feel like I’ve only started the forever part recently. Moving back to Vermont wasn’t an option until my father passed away in 2012. It might feel brutal or cold to write or read, but there was no place here for me or Amy until he was gone. Since my early twenties, I had assumed that I eventually would return to the farm where I grew up in Vermont.

What grows well here in Vermont? A family of fruit called Ribes, plus aronia (Aronia melanocarpa), sea buckthorn, elderberries, apples of course, but my mother started planting fruit in the gardens around the house with a focus on the Ribes genus, which includes currants (red, white, pink and black) and gooseberries as well some gooseberry-currant crosses like Jostaberry.

Home in its gnarly heart(iness) is here in Vermont, but maintaining a connection to the west feels vital for making life back East work.

I'm useless to start. Maybe I wash out my mug from yesterday or I hug Amy from behind as she pours water onto the ground beans, circling the stream of water around the expressive volcano of freshly ground coffee blooming in a white paper basket. It's intensely cold downstairs and fresh out of bed, I'm a nurse log of warmth for Amy who's lost the residual heat of the blankets after her trip outside to warm the car. Today, I'm working on a quiche recipe for this week's Friday Mornings at Tandem.

October, at about its midpoint, is when the seasonal saturation of plant growth/sunlight/tourists/travelers/harvest/leaf turning/commerce/commerce/run/run/plant/share/repeat// almost abruptly unsqueezes and suddenly all of us seasonally-driven people/businesses are released.

If possible, pick a honey that’s light colored, sweet/fruity tasting, a honey where the taste of wax and comb are less forward. A fruity/sweet honey allows the fruit being preserved to shine through in the finished preserves. A light colored honey, and (depending on the flower varietal since some flowers produce inherently darker honey) a raw honey, can help keep the color lighter in your finished preserve. But don’t overthink this either. If only Clover Honey is available, use it!