Raspberries!

Boy, it sure has felt like fall these last couple of days. Low clouds hanging in the sky, cold wind blowing from the west. It is supposed to warm up again next week. I just hope it doesn’t get too cold for the tomatoes in the interim. One hates to see green tomatoes left on the vine.

When I first started gardening, having as many tomatoes as I wanted made me feel unbelievably wealthy. I’ve gotten used to lots of tomatoes over the years. Now it’s raspberries that do it for me. And the raspberries are starting to come in. Raspberries! If we run out today, we just have to wait two days for more. It’s so awesome! I’ve already frozen the first quart. Last year, Terry got over 50 quarts. If you have ever tried freezing fresh raspberries and ended up with a Big Old Block O’Fruit, here’s a hint: pick off the bugs, give the berries a dunk in water, spread them on a towel to dry, and freeze them individually on a tray. When the berries are frozen, slide a spatula under them and put them in a container in the freezer, where they will happily retain their individuality for at least the entire winter.

How to freeze raspberries

The beets did well this year. I’ve been taking them to work and have found a surprising number of beet lovers among my colleagues. I made a batch of pickled beets and eggs for my lunches. The addition of crumbled blue cheese and homemade sourdough bread puts it over the top. I do live well in the summer.

Pickled eggs and beets with blue cheese and sourdough

The oaks have produced a good crop of acorns this year. We’ve had two tom turkeys prowling the grounds as well as a group of (I think) two hens and 7 juveniles. Turkeys love acorns!

Two tom turkeys

Tom turkey close up

Hens and juveniles

We’ve had a feral cat around lately. Terry named him/her Toby. Toby has gotten the ground squirrel population under control, for which we are grateful. We are hoping he/she will take on the rabbits in Nursery 1 next. One day last week, Toby was stalking the tom turkeys. I have to take Terry’s word for it because Toby and the turkeys had gone separate ways by the time I got out with my camera. Toby is a nice looking cat and seems healthy. He/she is not friendly, however. We are in no danger of becoming cat owners on Toby’s account.

Toby, a gray and white stray cat

The pullets are getting big. The Ameracauna are getting their cheek feathers. When I close the coop each night, I get a “what are YOU looking at?” glare from them. They are so cute.

What are you looking at?

Yeah, I mean you!

The other night, Chloe hopped up on the edge of the feeder and took several spins around. I should have taped it, but it didn’t occur to me.

Chloe's make-shift merry-go-round

Sunday afternoon, I got out the Big Key with the Hard Words (Swink and Wilhelm, 1994) and drove myself crazy trying to identify the prairie flowers. Actually, the purple one was pretty easy. It is winged loosestrife (Lythrum alatum). I was much relieved that it was not purple loosestrife, an incredibly invasive alien. Purple loosestrife usually has 10 or more stamen. Winged loosestrife has less than 10. The one I looked at had 5.

Winged loosestrife

Then there’s that damned aster. I had to learn words like “phyllaries” and “coriaceous.” Don’t ask. The most annoying thing is that I could not retain the meanings. I bet I looked up “involucres” six times. Plus Swink and Wilhelm say that the asters hybridize all over the place, which made me completely despair. The closest I could come was panicled aster (Aster simplex). My picture book says it grows 3 to 8 feet tall, which is right, anyway. Given the hybridization problem, it may very well be a panicled half-aster. Ha! Botany humor! And guess what! Neither of these plants is on the seed list of what we planted. Could it be that these plants are coming from an ancient seed bank after all? 

Panicled aster?

The sweet corn is done. The dry beans are winding down. Soon it will be time to bring in the onions, then the potatoes (what’s left of them, if anything), then the winter squash. As the growing season wanes, I mentally check off the milestones that get us ready for winter. There’s still a lot to do!