New England asters!
Well, you know what this means...
1) Found the camera!
2) It is now Autumn!
Autumn is not a sad time for me, though I understand why many see it that way.
I feel it more as a beginning than an ending.
There's certainly plenty going on in the plant world.
Some plants are just beginning to blossom for the first time:
Others, like this Queen Anne's Lace,
are already investing most of their energy in the future:
Plants influence my daily activities in many ways. Collecting seeds. Arranging for the goats' food supply. Watching the candy roaster squash grow, and planning where to store them if they make it to storing size.
A new experiment: biting insects arrive before the jewelweed in the Spring, so next year I'm hoping jewelweed in the form of ice cubes will provide similar itch-relief as the fresh plants. Do me a favor? Next Spring, when I mention the blackflies and mosquitoes, please remind me that I did this. It is entirely possible I will forget what those little brown blocks are, tucked away in the freezer.
Speaking of the freezer, early Autumn is also the gastronomically interesting time when I try to identify and eat everything left in the chest freezer - lots of soups and berries this year - prior to defrosting and cleaning.
All in preparation for...apple season!
I love Autumn.
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