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...

Busy and beautiful August days....

 August 16, 2026

Enough with the cucumbers! I'm calling 'Uncle' on the pickling, although I am saving a couple of big, ripe cucs to make Hubby's favourite relish. I marked them earlier with some flagging tape so I wouldn't pick them by accident.

The first harvesting of green peppers, other than the random ones we've been eating.

They got blanched, sliced and dehydrated, their tops and tails cubed and frozen. There are lots more, as well as the red guys that are maybe starting to colour...

You have to look really, really closely! There are lots and lots of peppers, a really good pepper year. They love to be planted together. I have 16 plants in a 4' X 4' grid.

The paste tomatoes are colouring...

and they seem to be out-pacing the ripening of the beefsteaks.

Pumpkins are out-growing their slings on the fence, popping right out of them. I think they are sturdy enough to hold on without the slings.

Other squash are growing, 

some winter squash and acorns, 
 

and always later to the party, the butternuts. 

I'd been saving a good swathe of more or less weed-free lawn, cut and raked it up on Friday, then layered it into one of my compost bins with the dry, mulched leaves I've been saving in the barn from last fall. 

Making the layers here, and the result, this morning! 

Compost making is magic!

I've been blanching and squirrelling the celery away in the freezer. Bags and bags for winter soup making...what a luxury! I will be totally self-sufficient in celery this winter. 

There have been several afternoons of late, when there have been big rolling white clouds in the sky, giving us light, intermittent showers. One could get totally lost gazing at these beauties. 

The next picture was taken in the evening, and the white edges on the clouds in the picture, were glittering gold, as the sun was in the western sky behind them. It didn't come through in the photo, but interesting none the less.

Bald-faced hornets decided to build a nest on the solar array, sorry guys, not a good place,

and one of the pictures on the trail cameras was kinda' cute. Mama and young 'un having a snack.

Finally, my glads are starting to open.

Pretty nasturtiums, one with a Bumble bee's bum.....