Squirrelling it away....

 September 20, 2026

 Yes, that is frost coating the grass Saturday morning. 

A quick check of the weather forecast Friday night before bed, had me going out with headlight and covers for the cherry tomato trellis and the half unharvested pepper patch. The frost didn't do a lot of damage, as there wasn't much cold sensitive stuff remaining in the gardens. The basil is very unhappy, some of the marigolds are singed and blackened a bit, but the zinnias appear unscathed. I'll leave it all for the pollinators that are still around.  

The rest of the peppers got harvested Saturday, overfilling my very largest, big metal bowl.

Earlier in the week, the rest of the squash was picked as the powdery mildew was marching on relentlessly. 

Maybe, just maybe, this will be the last pail of apples I'll process this fall. It has been an amazing year for apples, bumper crops on all our good trees.

After spending this morning in the kitchen processing peppers for dehydrating and freezing, it was pleasant to sit in the warm afternoon sun at the picnic table, and clean the garlic for storage.

The Jerusalem artichokes are one of the last things to bloom, and they are a bright spot against the cedars over beyond the garden shed.

Behind them along the stone fence, the Winterberry bushes are loaded with food for the birds. They look so Christmassy!
 

My asters planted here and there are finally blooming.  

I'm looking very much forward to taking a break from squirrelling away the harvest, and having more time for other pursuits!

 Farewell summer.

 

Foraging, harvesting, and butterflies....

 September 13, 2026

According to my gauge, 8.5cm of rain fell during August, and it didn't stop falling when August was over. We had another 3cm early in the month of September, and as a result, the bush is absolutely brimming with all sorts of fungi. The garden and the apple harvest is keeping me busy, but still I try to get out and see what is happening in the woods. 

 I had visions of lovely sauteed slices of puffball in butter for lunch when I spotted this guy...  

Sadly, his interior was yellowing, so he was too far along to enjoy. 

A beam of sunshine was perfectly spot-lighting this guy in the middle of the hemlocks, looking like a mini campfire. 

When we moved here in 2017, this big beech tree was perhaps the largest beech on the property, and was green and growing, although if we'd known about beech bark disease then, we probably could have spotted the signs. It didn't take long for him to succumb to the disease, and now the top has crashed down, and the remaining stub of a trunk is shrunken and riddled with fungi.

It saddens me every time I walk by him.

The rain and humidity has hastened the powdery mildew on the pumpkin vines, so they had to go. Strangely, the other squash are still holding out with no sign of it....yet.

I pulled the oldest and biggest of my succession planted rutabagas. It is smooth and firm, but am wondering if there will be a hollow in it's centre when we cut it open. 

Back in the kitchen, a morning was spent making blackberry and chokecherry jelly. It has been a few years since the blackberries have been as prolific as they have been this year.
 

The excessive rain this late in the summer has caused some splitting on the beefsteak and cherry tomatoes, but so far the paste tomatoes show no sign of being affected, and are ripening gradually. This may be the largest tomato off of the one Brandywine plant I grew. 

One afternoon a few days ago, there was an influx of Monarch butterflies, perhaps a migrating group? They love the zinnias that are blooming in several places throughout the gardens. I stood between two beds with zinnias, and dozens of beautiful Monarchs were fluttering around me, nectaring on the blooms. There were more Monarchs around me than I've ever seen together in one place, in my life. It was an absolute thrill to stand there in the cloud of butterflies.

Furry guys, Mushrooms and Sourdough.....

September 7, 2026

Labour Day...definitely. 

This morning we cleaned up the wood yard, and got the grass cut.

There are so many other things to keep us busy around here, that the job of splitting and piling the last of the log rounds, was put on the back burner, but done this weekend.   

 So good to finally get the woodshed topped up. Full.

 In a few months we will be starting the process all over again, but for now, job done.

In amongst the wood chips was this furry caterpillar...

I think it is an American Dagger Moth Caterpillar.

Across the front of the house, out near the line of bush between us and the road, is a damp area that doesn't need to be mown hardly at all as it mostly grows lovely moss. Today I walked it, throwing off any branches that had fallen from the trees, in preparation for collecting the leaves that will be falling. I need a clear run as the leaves are collected with the mulcher blades and the bagger attachment on the mower. The reward for that was...

a handful of fat puff balls that will be sauteed in butter and added to the menu. Yum. 

On the apple is a fellow that I found when picking up the fallen fruit under the trees in the yard, a daily chore this time of year.

I think this guy is a Spotted Tussock Moth Caterpillar.

On a bush wander earlier in the week, this beautiful Lion's Mane mushroom was found on a dying beech tree.  

In the garden, there are now enough red peppers to make a batch of red Pepper Jelly. A few hot peppers in the mix give it a nice zing. 

Recently, I have been bitten with the Sourdough Bread making bug. The first two loaves were abysmal, inedible, and got composted. Gradually I am getting the hang of it. The last two loaves have rapidly disappeared...so delicious. I had no idea.

Second last loaf, a little chewy, but good.

The loaf I baked off this morning. Much much better, but still room for improvement. Making sourdough bread requires patience, and about 24 hours from start to finish.

 

September 1, 2026

How can this be possible??

Mornings are cool, foggy and very dew-wet, and morning forays to check on the gardens require rubber boots. On sunny days, it is noticeably later before the shadows of the trees along the eastern side of the clearing recede to allow sunlight to shine on the field garden, and it is dark by 9PM. The leaves on some trees appear to be a paler shade of green, and here and there are hints of colour other than green. 

There has been no shortage of rain for the last couple of weeks, some storms rolling up, blotting out the sunshine and making a surprise attack on otherwise sunny days. 

Blight is starting to show up on the tomato plants, but so far, surprisingly, no sign of powdery mildew elsewhere. The gardens are looking a bit tired, but are still producing so much food. The last patch of beans was ripped out yesterday, and buckwheat planted in it's place. The previously planted buckwheat in the garlic patch is going gangbusters.

Another bowl of green peppers to process, and lots more are sizing up, a bumper crop this summer.

The red guys are starting to turn...

Cherry tomatoes continue to provide lots of snacks,

and we have been enjoying a thick slice of juicy beefsteak tomato in our toasted tomato sandwiches for lunch, a treat we look forward to every summer.

The paste tomatoes are finally starting to colour up, and are picked as soon as the colour change becomes noticeable, then are boxed to continue ripening in the back porch, away from critter paws and teeth! 

The last two jars of last summer's harvest came in from storage, and soon there will be enough to start processing this year's.

The pumpkins hanging on the fence are starting to colour.

It has been hard to count them amongst the greenery, but now that they are colouring, it looks like there are 9.

Apple season is pretty well upon us, as apples have begun falling from the apple tree beside the driveway. 

Apple sauce is on the immediate to-do list, as well as apple pie filling, and lots of frozen slices for winter treats. 

With all the moisture of late, the woods are full of mushrooms. A couple more distinctive shapes and colours caught my attention,

but alas, I missed the flush of Black Trumpets...finding only their shrivelled remains. Peak mushroom foraging time always coincides with peak garden produce processing time!



  

Kicking it up a notch...

 August 22, 2026

 Compost making, that is. 

The 'Bush Buggy' got pressed into service for mixing freshly cut grass and dry leaves saved from last fall. The mixture got forked into the compost bin, watered, and now is cooking like crazy.

I am upping my compost making, as I'd like to try an experiment and convert a couple of the raised beds to 'no dig' next summer, and that requires a good layer of compost to get started. 

The buckwheat planted where the garlic was removed, is doing very well.

Cucumbers are still going strong, tomatoes are ripening and the last planting of beans is being picked and processed for storage.

I did a little foraging for choke cherries this week, 

and found that bears had beaten me to most of them, evidenced by pushed down vegetation and broken branches on the shrubs. I did manage to pick enough to make about 4 cups of jelly, and froze the juice for future processing.

There are a few ripening blackberries here and there,

but to seriously go after them, one must don heavy duty pants, long sleeved shirts, and wear at least one leather glove on the non-picking hand! 

Our apple trees are loaded with fruit, and the apples' cheeks are getting rosy. 

After the rain events we've had this summer, the bush is riddled with fungi. 

Big ones...

Small ones....

Colourful ones...

 Just very cute ones...

 Differently shaped ones...

and deadly ones...