One bed squared away

Next year's herb garden

Now I’m falling behind on getteng the yard cleaned up. I’ve got exactly one patch weeded, and covered with compost.  You can’t see them, but the upper right corner also has 20 slivers of garlic planted from the cores of a couple heads of garlic.  That one leek is the last of a batch I planted last year. The runt. Some time before the ground freezes, I ought to pull that up. The green shots near the bottom are two onions and a shallot that started sprouting. So I guess it’s turning into the allium garden.

Earthworm’s pantry

Earthworm looking for a nice bit of leaf

I like seeing the earthworms in the ground; it tells me that the soil is good and nutritious for nightcrawlers. It’s getting cold and wet (very wet, today) but lots of leaves are covering the ground. the organisms that break down the leaves are  good eats if you’re a worm. So it’s stocking up for the winter, and getting ready to dig deep, deep, deep.

Re: How High the Moon

“How High the Moon, by Patrick Lundrigan is charming story in which a couple argue over who is a robot and who programmed whom. It sounds almost like a game they’re playing with each other. But if one of them really is a robot, maybe they’re programmed to say that. Shades of Blade Runner.

Lingering summer

Alpine strawberries think they're in the mountains

Looks like I ‘m a bit distracted by the few warm days we’re getting this week, a bit of summer lingering past its due date. While I’m out raking leaves, the alpine  strawberries are fruiting again. Very tart fruits, but fruits nonetheless.

Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin

Ah, well, sometimes socializing trumps blogging. And sometimes socializing involves baked goods. Like maybe … apple doughnut pie!

Ceci n’est pas une pinecone

Stray pinecone

Okay, this is weird. A pinecone stuck in a lilac bush. With a maple leaf for garnish. I swear I had nothing to do with this. And why does my camera think 4:00 DST is in the middle of the night?

Mystery grapes

One more mystery. Every year I watch these vines produce round dark fruits. Are these grapes? If I pruned the vine, would they get bigger? Do you know of a place to look them up that doesn’t involve getting a hundred million hits on Google?

Coneflowers in fall

A late coneflower

Snow or no snow, this is the last coneflower of the year. All the others, after blooming and feeding bees, have ripened into spiky seedheads. And the goldfinches have found them.

Autumn late bloomers

One solitary pea blossom

Come on, little pea! You can do it! You can still flower before it’s too late. Look at how well these alpine strawberries are doing.

Rose hips

Rose hips

Here’s another place to look for fall color — rose hips. Some are still a nice, bright red, but more have taken blackening hits from the cold. Already.