September Seasonal Living Guide: Savoring the Month Ahead

Welcome to the September Seasonal Living Guide: Savoring the Month Ahead! September is one of my favorite months to cook and tend the garden in this "shoulder season" because it doesn't ask us to choose between summer and fall. We're seeing the tail end of one season and feeling the whispers of the next.

The garden is still giving us an abundance of tomatoes, basil, zucchini, and peppers. Farmers markets are overflowing with the final days of summer's abundance. And at the same time, daylight is starting to lessen in the Northern Hemisphere. The evenings are beginning to cool and it's time to start thinking about the crops and recipes that will carry us through fall and winter.

Rather than rushing towards the next season, September invites us to slow the pace and notice where we are right now. And for me: that is the heart of seasonal living. I think about the season's through these five simple verbs:

Grow. Shop. Cook. Gather. Savor.

I lean on questions like:

• What can I grow right now?
• What is worth bringing home from the farmers market?
• What should I make with all that zucchini?
• Who haven't I seen lately and should invite for dinner to catch up?
• What small pleasures are worth slowing down, even for a moment, to take notice?

This September seasonal living guide is my invitation to do just that. Scroll on for the ways I'm savoring this month ahead.

What is in Season in September?

September is the bridge between the summer's abundant harvests and fall's slowing rhythm. It's truly a month of transition between seasons so what is in season is going to depend on where you live. Here in Northern California, the farmers market can still feel decidedly as through Summer is still in session. In the garden, we're definitely turning our attention to cultivating the cooler weather crops in anticipation of our first frost date in November.

What we might find at the farmers market or in the garden this time of year:

Late-Summer Produce

Tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, the last of the corn, green beans and broad beans, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, basil, the last of the stone fruits like peaches and nectarines, grapes, melons, and figs.

Early Fall Arrivals

Apples, pears, early winter squash like butternut squash and acorn squash, pumpkins, cool-weather greens, spinach, mustard greens.

GROW

What to Plant in the Garden in September

September is a busy month in our edible garden. In much of Northern California, we're beginning to transition from those heat-loving summer vegetables towards the cooler season crops.

Depending on your microclimate, September is a great time to plant or transplant crops like:

• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Lettuces
• Spinach
• Swiss Chard
• Arugula
• Carrots
• Beets
• Radishes
• Turnips
• Peas
• Bok Choy
• Mustard Greens
• Cool weather herbs like parsley, cilantro, and chives

Garden Notes: garlic and shallots are also great crops to put on your fall garden planting list, but know that the time to harvest is longer (we plant in fall and harvest in early summer), depending on your hardiness area.

If you're gardening in a warmer climate, don't feel pressured to plant everything all at once. September can still gift us heat waves and tender seedlings may need more afternoon shade and consistent moisture while they establish their roots.

What We're Harvesting from the Garden in September

When it comes to growing a kitchen garden I have one rule:

Grow what you'll actually cook.

Before filling every available space in a garden bed with fall vegetables, consider the meals you'll want to make.

• Do you love roasted carrots? Plant carrots.
• Make soup every week in fall and winter? Grow kale, spinach, chard, and herbs like chives and parsley.
• Eat salads year-round? Consider lettuces, arugula, and easy to harvest radishes.
• Love a weekly pasta dinner in rotation? Give yourself plenty of chard, kale, or spinach to make an easy seasonal pesto or wilt for easy pasta dishes.

As for what are garden is producing this time of year, September in Zone 9b looks remarkably similar to August. Keep picking those tomatoes regularly along with:

• Zucchini and late summer squash
• Cucumbers
• Green Beans
• Peppers
• Eggplant
• Corn
• Basil
• Melons
• Late Season Stone Fruits
• Figs

What to Remove from the Garden in September

Now's the time to do a little "fall garden" cleaning as we prepare for fall garden plantings. As summer crops slow in production, this is a good time to remove plants that are:

• No longer producing meaningful harvests
• Severely diseased
• Damaged beyond recovery
• Taking up space for needed fall crops

Don't feel like you have to pull everything out of the garden bed simply because the calendar has changed. Look around your garden and take notice. If you see a tomato plant is still healthy and producing abundant fruit, keep it going. If a zucchini plant is appearing exhausted with crispy leaves and a bit of powdery mildew, it's probably time to let it go.

Garden Note: Remember that when it comes time to remove finished plants, compost healthy plant material but don't add any diseased plant elements to your home compost.

What Seeds Should You Save in September?

This month is a wonderful opportunity to look at your garden with next year's planning in mind.

If you have open-pollinated or heirloom varieties that performed especially well, consider saving seeds from those healthy plants.

Tomatoes, beans, peppers, and some flowers can be great candidates for seed saving. But also: you don't have to save everything. Consider one or two plants that performed well and are ones you'd like to grow again.

A seasonal garden isn't just about this year's harvest. It's also about paying attention to what is worth carrying forward into the future.

SHOP

What to Look for at the Farmers Market in September

We really do get the best of both seasons this time of year at the farmers market. When it comes to shopping the market during September, I am shopping from a place of preserving and planning. Here's what I mean:

Look for the last of summer's abundance

• Buy a few extra pounds of tomatoes to freeze for future roast sauces.
• Purchase green beans, trim the ends and give them a rinse before storing in freezer safe bags for easy holiday meal prep.
• Dice peaches and stone fruits to freeze for winter time compotes and pie fillings.
• Pickle cucumbers for sandwiches and burger nights.
• Buy up bunches of basil to make batches of pesto cubes to freeze.

And then, I start looking for the first signs of fall:

• Pick up the first pears to make a spiced pear butter for morning oats.
• Roast the first autumn squash for pies or soups
• Enjoy root vegetables roasted or braised with meats
• Savor the first cooler-weather greens for autumn salads

The beauty of shopping the farmers market is the potential for discovery. This list of what's in season will no doubt vary depending on where you live. And, the access to a farmers market also will depend on the seasonality in your area. Here in Napa, we're fortunate to have a number of year-round farmers markets that feature in season, locally grown produce. This has made cooking and eating with the seasons all the more enjoyable.

What Should You Buy in September?

When it comes to choosing what seasonal fruits and veggies to buy, I like to divide my farmers market shopping list into three categories:

1 - Buy What You'll Eat This Week

Choose the produce you already know how you'll use in a recipe or dish. This could be tomatoes for pasta sauces, peaches and greens for a delicious late summer salad, or a mix of eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes for a savory ratatouille.

2 - Buy What's Exceptionally Delicious

If something you find at the farmers market looks exceptionally beautiful and tastes incredible, buy it. The adage "we eat with our eyes" really holds true here! I find this to be especially true when a fruit or veggie is only available for a limited time.

3 - Buy a Little Extra to Preserve

This is my "work smarter, not harder" bit of wisdom. September is a great time to think about extending the season. Consider freezing herbs and tomatoes. You can make fruit jams or preserves for the last of the blackberries. Or, freeze fruit whole for easy winter baking. The takeaway: just because the season ends, doesn't mean we can't find a way to preserve flavors for later.

How Do You Shop When Summer and Fall Overlap?

When it comes to shopping the farmers market in the "shoulder season," my favorite approach is to savor it all.

Don't choose one over the other. Buy the tomatoes alongside the first apples. Make the caprese salad one night and roast cubes of squash the next.

Cooking in September doesn't need to be an "all or nothing" but, rather, an opportunity to slowly ease into the changing seasons--and the ingredients that grace our table along the way.

COOK

What Recipes to Cook in September

My favorite types of recipes in September are flexible enough to work with whatever the garden gives us or what we find at our local farmers market.

Check out the 8 recipes below for seasonal meal inspiration featuring late summer produce.

How I Transition from Summer Cooking to Fall Cooking

I don't tend to change my entire cooking approach when this time of year arrives. I may change out or swap ingredients depending on what's available.

Summer Dishes	Early Fall Swaps	Later Fall Inclusions
Tomato + Zucchini + Corn + Basil for Pasta	Roast Tomato Sauce for Lasagna with Meat and Seasonal Greens	Roast Acorn Squash for Gnocchi with Spinach and Walnut Pesto

If pasta is on the menu, the above table illustrates how I let the ingredients of the season influence and inform the dishes I could plan. Fresh tomatoes in summer make a delicious light pasta for al fresco dinners whereas I'll roast them in sauce come early fall when their freshness has waned but the flavors remain.

Those same tomatoes near the end of their season do us a service through roasting with aromatics to craft a sauce for a seasonal lasagna for a cozy early autumn supper. And, by late fall, we can craft gnocchi with roasted and puréed squash and toss gently with a seasonal pesto made from leafy spinach and toasted walnuts.

GATHER

A Simple September Dinner Plan

September in our house means a return to routine. Our family eases back into our homeschool lessons. Work resumes it's normal flow post summer holidays. Meal planning resumes it's "make it fast, make it easy" rhythm.

Still, I want to carve out time to gather with friends over a glass of wine to savor this season as we usher our families back into the rhythms of our days. That said, a dinner with friends in September doesn't need a complicated menu. If you were coming over for dinner and it's been a challenging work juggling the family and work, here's what I'd make for you:

The Dinner Plan

Simple Starter	Caprese Salad with Burrata and Pesto Dollops
Main	Shallow Fried Pork Cutlets with Apricot Mostarda
Side	Blistered Romano Beans with a Quick Tomato-Basil Sauce
Dessert	Fig and Rosemary Olive Oil Cake
Wine We'll Enjoy	Chilled Vermentino to start; Pinot Noir for the main; late-harvest Riesling for dessert

Setting the Table for September

The holidays are right around the corner and I'll lean into more formal table sets as family and friends gather during the final months of the year. But when it comes to a table set in September, I love to keep it simple.

• Use whatever linens are readily available and on hand. I love a neutral tablecloth with a linen table runner. Place settings have white or ivory ceramic plates and beautiful linen dinner napkins.
• Cut flowers from the garden or buy a small bunch of flowers at the market to make a small arrangement for the center of the table. I love the creams, blue, and light greens of hydrangeas that give volume with simplistic effort that doesn't overpower.
• Light a few candles and create a fun, relaxed playlist.

The goal isn't to craft the perfect dinner party, but to simply set the table to gather over good food, delicious wine, and plenty of encouraging conversation as we usher in this next season of living.

SAVOR

The Rituals We Hold in September

With each page turn of the wall calendar, I have a visual reminder of the traditions and rituals that return with the coming season. Emails and posts on Instagram from a few local farms I follow remind me of the fun and festive family activities that have become our favorite rituals for marking this time of year.

In Napa Valley, harvest season is now in full swing. Wineries begin to share and showcase the behind the scenes of harvest. Farms host u-picks for the first apples and the late season summer produce. And, my favorite daily ritual of the evening walk becomes its own meditative exercise as I strive to notice:

• the changing time of the setting sun
• what's still blooming in our area (or garden)
• the slow color change of the vineyard leaves from bright green to yellow, orange, and auburn

In the years since moving to Napa, I've become more present in noticing the changing seasons and am slowly creating moments to sit in its stillness and savor the season we're in.

Your September Seasonal Living Checklist

If you're wanting to make September feel a little more intentional, check out my free printable: The Seasonal Living Checklist for September.

Download and print the the below checklist.

An Invitation for This September

As the months march on, I'm trying to remind myself to not rush towards the next season. I really want to savor the season in which I'm situated: as a mother, as a wife, as a friend, as a career balancing professional, as a curious homecook.

And so, I'll keep buying up the tomatoes because they're still gorgeous. I'm going to sow seeds for fall crops as I continue to grow in my gardening work (and hope for success in the fall and winter garden!). I'll welcome the first apples and autumnal squash. I'm going to savor the sunsets that come earlier and earlier--knowing that Daylight Savings Time will end soon. And, I'm going to push myself to branch out into the community more...and maybe even invite a few new friends over for dinner while we can still eat al fresco.

I'm going to continue to pay attention and notice the ways nature is reminding me to be present and patient here. In many ways, I think that's at the essence of seasonal living:

Grow what we can.

Buy what looks and tastes delicious--right now.

Cook what's abundant.

Gather with loved ones as often as we can.

Let's savor this season, together.