Recycling the Past, Barnegat NJ...A journey into the fragmentary wonderland of salvaged history

Last night was the first freeze of the season,  prompting me to spend the day today cleaning, raking, seeding, and pulling out droopy tomato plants.  It seemed as if I needed the freeze to officially be ready to accept that the growing season was over.  Looking around at the fallen leaves, and remnants of growth from the warmer months, I remembered that time back in March when my little seedlings emerged residing in my basement, and stubbornly refused to grow any taller.  Now they were taller than I am, yet finished with their seasonal growing cycle.

I have been meaning to share a fun visit from September, which, although it has been only a few short months somehow feels like ages ago.  In the spirit of trying to ignore the now wintry feeling weather, I will remember back to when the weather was still warm and we were clinging to summer for a brief moment in time... 

One of my favorite rituals during the summer is visiting Recycling the Past, in Barnegat, NJ for a mind- blowing journey into the world of architectural salvage.  Located about half an hour from the New Jersey shoreline and Long Beach Island, is a place where you can step back in time, walk among all kinds of historically significant and funky items, relics that have been salvaged from the past. 

Every year, I look forward to my visit, arriving in anticipation of what I might discover this year.

Walking around feels like walking into a bit of a wonderland, as giant stone frogs, gargoyles, iron dragons, towering Romanesque columns, and old ferris wheel parts peek out at you around every corner.   Their inventory is continuously changing due to their dedication to collecting items from buildings which are fated to disappear into the depths of history.  The stories about where items came from are fascinating, as I listen to what the buildings were like, I imagine in a little fragment, a time much different from our own.

Their newest acquisitions were from the Laronda estate in Bryn Mawr, PA.  I had my eye on a fascinating little gargoyle from the building.  When I picked up this little object I had no idea of the history that was attached.  This is one of the reasons why I love this place so much!

I especially like walking through the collection of doors and mantelpieces.  Doors that are twice the size of those found in standard homes today, with beautiful and intricate ornamentation, stacked against old paned parlor doors, school doors, and stained glass windows.  As I imagine the places that these pieces came from, I feel stories everywhere.  If only these fragments of history could talk... 

Along with their collection of doors and windows, they have a great variety of sinks, and tubs!  I particularly liked this farmhouse basin sink.

Each year, mysterious items make an appearance, salvaged from old factories, churches, and homes.  They have a wonderful collection of beautiful tile as well as bricks, slate, and other architectural details to restore historic homes and gardens.  Last year there were bins and bins of turquoise blue glass, rescued from an old turn of the century glass factory.  This year, I was happy to see that some of these glowing, crystal-like jewels were still around.

The gardens are beautiful, paired with the rustic and unique items, they provide me with inspiration to take home to my own garden.

Along with the countless salvaged items, there are also cast iron pieces available for purchase.  Every year, this changes, so it is fun to see what they come up with from year to year.

On my list of items that I have collected over the years, includes a rather intimidating gargoyle that resides in my garden bed, salvaged off of a church in Philadelphia, PA, numerous iron garden stakes and frames, a Chinese painted stool used in rice fields, gorgeous ceramic tiles rescued from elaborate bathrooms, and this year....a flying pig! 

I wonder what I will find next year....

Fall Colors!

 As the season winds down and the days are getting shorter, it takes a little more effort to find the colorful blooms and signs of life among the yellowing leaves and exhausted plants.  During  September and October, I often forget that there are indeed things happening in my garden, veggies are ripening, flowers are re-emerging, enjoying the warm days and cool nights.  It is important to recognize the last efforts made by these plants before the weather gets cold, and skies turn gray.  I have cataloged a few of these blooms in an effort to pay close attention. 

Reblooming Purple Clematis.

Delphinium.

Zinnias planted later in the season allow the colorful blooms to paint the flower beds.

Nasturtium flowers make a colorful and edible addition to salads.

Monk's Hood.

Blue Hydrangeas display a beautiful jewel-like purple color in the fall.


Not only are the fall flowers full of color, but the veggies too!

Purple Stringbeans.

 Bananarama Pepper.

 Fairytale Eggplant.

Sweet Thing Pepper.

Good as Gold Pepper.

 
Tomatoes.

Rainbow Chard.

Re-seeded lettuce mix.

Peppermint Stick Celery.

With these fall colors in mind, and the abundance of fresh grown produce coming in each day, I decided to make a few fun dishes.

The weather has been both warm and chilly, as if it is having trouble making up its mind.  After harvesting from my own garden, and visiting the local farm markets, I settled on a hearty vegetable soup, and gazpacho with a side of fried squash blossoms.  These soups make great dinners, and will last, saved for leftovers.

For the veggie soup I used an abundance of fresh greens as the main ingredients, like Red Russian Kale, Mustard Greens, and Rainbow Chard.  I also added purple dragon carrots, rosemary, thyme, purple sweet potato, butternut squash, celery and onion.  First, I sauteed the ingredients, adding each one gradually, saving the greens for last, until they are browned.  Next I added chicken stock, salt, pepper, and parmigiano cheese rinds for flavor.  I also added some pastina stars to thicken the soup, rice could also work well for this.  Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, freshly ground pepper and grated parmigiano cheese. 

For the gazpacho, I sampled a variety of peppers from my garden, along with heirloom tomatoes, scallions, cucumber, and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  I chopped all of the veggies, along with a clove of garlic, added salt, pepper, tobasco, and tomato juice.  With an immersion blender or standard blender, I pureed the veggies until finely chopped.  Chill soup in refrigerator for an hour and serve with garlic bread and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.   

For the side dish, I made my all time summer favorite, fried squash blossoms.  I found these blossoms at the Union Square Farmer's Market in NYC this week and nearly jumped for joy.

The batter consists of a cup of flour, salt, pepper, an egg, olive oil, and a splash of dry white wine.  Combine Flour, salt, pepper, 5 tablespoons wine, 2 tablespoons olive oil and egg yolk, adding warm water until a smooth batter forms.  Save egg white to use later.  Let batter sit for an hour and then add egg white.  Dip each flower into the batter and fry in olive oil until golden brown.  Sprinkle fried flowers with sea salt and eat.

Yum!

Though the leaves are falling and the days are getting shorter, there are plenty of things going on in the garden during this time of year.  Try not to forget about it just yet!