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.