and even more so at the end of the competition season.
But that doesn't mean we stay off the trails!
 |
| NOT the cast of "The Walking Dead" |
A bunch of riders (and a few civilians) met up at our usual time and place and headed out down the trail with a mission:
Find more mushrooms!
 |
| Not this one. This one is Certain Death. |
Why do we do this?
'Cuz Chanterelle's a fun guy (fungi).
 |
| Underside of the False Chanterelle / "Certain Death." |
Why don't we stay home?
'Cuz there's not much room (mushroom).
 |
| Totoro's Umbrella / "Certain Death" |
Those are the only mushroom jokes I know, courtesy of 13-year-old Henry.
If you know more, the comment box is wide open.
 |
| Cow Plop / "Certain Death" |
 |
| Cartoon Mushroom / "Certain Death" |
We found plenty of poison...but we also found food!
 |
| Real chanterelle / FOOD! |
 |
| Fistful of FOOD! |
 |
| Finding plenty of FOOD. |
 |
| Less enthused, but still participating. Cuz hey. Food! |
 |
Megan always wants to know the science of it:
"What trees nearby? What plants underfoot?
How much light? |
Mushroom hunting is a good task to keep us busy while we recover from last weekend's excitement.
Patty no longer looks like a barroom brawler, but she hasn't entirely recovered from her gravity check. But hey: she found plenty of FOOD!
The recent rains repopulated some of our newly-discovered treasure spots.
 |
| Emerging from the duff: food! |
While wandering around, we found more than just mushrooms. We also found a geocache!
 |
| The paper was damp and the pencil was broken, so we didn't sign the log |
...and a Doorway.
 |
I walked through and ended up someplace amazing.
Then, I came back. |
Roo is learning to be a mushroom hunting dog. She doesn't approve when we go off-trail, but she has learned to stick close and let us find the path. And she's always willing to wag her tail when we discover a patch of chanterelles!
 |
| Roo |
Luna is too fragile for long walks now, so she helped me in the garden later.
 |
| Luna |
Jim and I (mostly Jim) are building a permanent Chicken Palace in Garden 2.0
 |
| Leveling the ground |
 |
| Post holes dug, posts not leveled or set yet |
While Jim worked on the post-holes, I did some digging of my own:
 |
| Monster potato |
Our potato crop wasn't nearly
as awkward as last year, but the early yields are encouraging.
 |
| a peck of potatoes |
 |
| This potato is dinner for two! |
The garden is also still yielding beans for shelling
 |
| Duana and Jason brought seeds from Italy for our garden |
 |
Combined with corn and chunks of chicken, these beans will make an
awesome soup this week! |
And of course, my autumn garden would never be complete without pumpkins.
 |
| Giant pumpkins, almost ready for harvest |
They are beautiful...and delicious...
 |
| The turkeys prefer their Pumpkin Spice Latte without spice...or coffee |
...like a lot of things around here this time of year!
living through your garden this year - it looks awesome. always impressed when you are still harvesting stuff since 'round here it seems like we do the sumemr garden and always forget about fall. How is Luna doing? Her eyes look so sad but I'm hoping its because of some funny light or maybe she was trying to convince you that you had forgotten to feed her dinner.
ReplyDeleteLuna perfected the "reproachful" expression as a young dog, and uses it to great advantage in her perambulations through the world. Generally, Reproachful Dog reproaches you for doing anything other than petting the dog. Feeding the dog is also acceptable. Talking to the dog is okay. But best is petting the dog...endlessly...
ReplyDeleteA guy walks into the doctor's office, a carrot stuck in one of his ears, a cucumber in the other ear, and a mushroom stuck in one nostril.
ReplyDeleteThe man says, "Doc, this is terrible. What's wrong with me?"
The doctor says, "Well, first of all, you need to eat more sensibly."