the shift

while it's true that some days do still feel downright summery, the balance between the waning summer days and the coming fall days seems to be starting to tip in autumn's favor.  refreshingly cool evenings and mornings, reduced midday humidity, apples dripping off of trees here and there (though not at our house- the squirrels got ALL of ours!).....

in the garden, the shift is more than obvious.  the garlic, (NINE pounds of it!) is all cured and ready for storage (some we will keep as is, some will be vinegar cured or dried, and some we will use as seed garlic in October), the butternuts and winter luxury pumpkins are all picked and cured, and just a few "big Max" pumpkins remain in the beds.  the butternuts and pumpkins did alright this year, but several of the plants produced just one fruit each, and I'd like to think 2 or 3 is a reasonable expectation.  still, these will last us quite a while.

we've planted fall peas and greens, cabbages and turnips, beets and carrots....

the row of jalapeños and serranos patiently await pickling and hot-saucing...

looking thorough some thai basil and globe amaranth to the bean teepee, still producing

there is a new round of baby cucumbers coming in, along with some okra and tomatillos...

the echinacea that volunteered in the middle of the garden is thriving and spreading vigorously.  it seems to want to sow itself all over my yard and I'm okay with that.  the black-eyed susan follows it, not wishing to be left behind.

the little bugger below caused a stir the other day when papa brushed up against him while pruning a grapevine.  luckily, he didn't actually get stung.  turns out this fella, the saddleback caterpillar, is one of the most venomous caterpillars in North America, and it's stings can lead to a whole host of ugly complications.  according to one website, "The venom itself can cause a systemic condition called erucism or acute urticaria, for which severe symptoms may include migraines, gastrointestinal symptoms, asthma complications, anaphylactic shock, rupturing of erythrocytes, and hemorrhaging".

well then.  at least we now know to give them plenty of space should we see another one.

our little pond is looking good, and it turns out that while we were away one of the fish had a baby.  there is now a 2 inch long grey goldfish swimming alongside the others.  the resident frog hasn't been spotted in a while, but I'm hoping he/she will be back.