Chill

            "One leaf on a branch

            and not a sound of sadness

            or despair. One leaf left

            on a branch and no unhappiness.

            One leaf left all by itself

            in the air and it does not speak

            of loneliness or death.

            One leaf and it spends itself

            in swaying mildly in a breeze."

                             DAVID IGNATOW

There is definitely chill in the air when Shasta and I go out for our morning walk. Humans we pass comment on the descending of fall as well as the chill in the air. Yet so many leaves on the trees and shrubs retain their summer foliage.

Cox Orange Pippin apple tree
leaves are turning a beautiful yellow
then brown at which time 
they fall onto to the wood chips
covering the ground.

Here at PageRefuge two Vitis californica ('Roger's Red' grape) are planted on either side of the trellis Dwight built. I primarily plant these for their stunning fall color. As you can see both vines are beginning their transformation. I do not find the fruit particularly delicious but I do observe some birds pecking at the small dark grapes. In our previously owned Santa Fe home the present owners and their son seem to find the grapes tasty as they have shared pictures with me of them doing so.

 I found this piece of art
Dwight created in a cardboard
box filled with all sorts of
sculpture tools and such. 
In the upper right corner
there is another on resting
on one of the legs of
the cement birdbath.

Fall garden chores are being undertaken with a few completed.

The two Rubus (subgenus Rubus Watson) ‘Black Satin’ Thornless Blackberry bushes have been drastically pruned. I find new growth provide more tasty blackberries and in more abundance. 

Grindelia hirsutata 

( Hairy gumplant, Hairy gumweed)

is the yellow flowering plant.

The three flowering grasses

closest to the road

are 

Muhlenbergia rigen (Deergrass)

Achnatherum hymmenoides (Indian ricegrass)

I was introduced to this grass while living in New Mexico. Once I was familiar with the grass I noticed it grew in the Eastern Sierras as well. I think this a stunning grass. I have six plants along with two Grindelia in the area that use to be my compost pile.

The Hopi Black Dye Sunflowers have removed. The flower heads have been cut from the stocks and deposited into a green bin for pick up. The seeds are waiting to be added to dwindling bag of purchased sunflower seeds. I am finding this process to be very, very, very slow as the seeds are tight in these heads. It is as tho' they are "hanging on for dear life" as the saying goes.

These will eventually be deposited in the tray for the birds to eat. The birds do not seem to be inclined to harvest the seeds themselves. It seems I have created their laziness since I provide sunflowers seeds in several devices hanging in my backyard.

In the West most raised bed there is only two remaining tomato plants. The closet one is a black cherry and the one to the West is Blue "Boar" berries also a cherry tomato. With this summer's cooler than usual temperatures the tomato plants fruit just has not ripened as readily as in previous seasons.

The string bean plants are essentially
done producing edible beans to eat.
Above is pictured
one of the Fortex bean pods 
with seeds developing to be 
saved for next years planting.

Steven Severin and Leigh Sims
enjoying an outing to wharf
in Seattle. They share that getting
out into the sunshine is a superb 
way to spend a Sunday
which is the day this was sent to me.

On this Saturday as I look out the window first there is blue sky then gathering clouds as well as a few rain drops then back to sunshine. The plants in the garden are all saying "bring on the rain!" 

On this fall day may each and everyone of us enjoy a hardy and deep belly

Summer to Fall

Fall color on October 26, 2017
in Bishop, California 
which is along the Highway 395 corridor

For me the seasons seem to be zipping by more quickly all of the time*. It seems to me I was just starting seeds in my mini greenhouse. Now I am pulling out spent plants and depositing them in the green bin for pick up.

*Early in my nursing career 

                                                      when I would visit my parents 

                      on their farm South of Shenandoah, Iowa 

Stephen B. Howard

my dear, dear, dear stepfather 

warned me of this. 

  

Hopeful fall will arrive soon
Also the maple tree's colorful leaves

The 2023 autumn equinox here in the northern hemisphere occurs on September 23 "officially" at 06:50. Many of my local friends are commenting that day light is arriving later in mornings. Since I am an early riser I for sure notice this shift.

Fall color along the Santa Fe River Trail
featuring the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
in the background

Frenchy's Field was a short walk from Santa Fe 1950's Stamm home. Then another brief walk through the park to the Santa Fe River Trail. Shasta and I did this almost every morning then frequently repeated it with Dwight when he was up and ready to begin his day. On many occasions we walked in the dry river bed rather than on the concrete sidewalk where Shasta could run off leash. Of course if a coyote was spotted we'd keep her on lease, otherwise she would be off chasing the interesting looking BEing.

The Japanese maple tree on the West side of my front yard still remains clothed in bright green leaves. The breath taking vibrant color of the turning leaves has yet to occur. I notice other local maple tree leaves are still green as well. On a recent weekend PBS Newshour I heard a clear explanation of why leaves on trees change color. As usual I found the scientist's clear explanation helpful in understanding why all the local tree's leaves mostly remain green.

Hopefully fall with cooler temperatures will arrive 
so the maple tree in my front yard
will display colorful leaves like in this picture.

Cathie and Rose
November 18, 2009
in Bridgeport, California

Dwight and I along with our dog or dogs often spent a month over Thanksgiving in the Mono Lake area. We usually stayed at the Walker River Lodge in the ground floor "apartment" where the view out the kitchen window is the Walker River. The surrounding scenery is spectacular in the fall with the air both crisp and clean. We noticed the air since we were living south of Sebastopol where the air quality was often compromised ie full of smog.

Dwight and Rose with 
the Sawtooth Mountains in the background.
We were on a few mile walk along 
the road up to Twin Lakes.

Snow always remains on the highest tops of the Sawtooth Mountains. And fisher people were often seen along the shores of Twin Lakes  reeling in trout when we would drive up there to walk. On Bridgeport's Main Street we would see the trout frozen in Ken's Sporting Goods cases that sit out in front of their establishment.

I feel so fortunate to have been able to spend so much time in the most beautiful area in the world. Also grateful to be able share the time with my husband, such an exceptional BEing, Dwight J. Sims. 

"As we attune to rhythm and flow of the seasons" (Jo Poore) may we all celebrate with a hardy

SAD

Dwight brought me
this heart shaped rock from
the Santa Fe River bed for one
of my birthdays we celebrated in New Mexico.
Ripe Silvery Fir Tree tomato on right
and Stupice along the top.

Dwight Sims

"There is a great comfort in growing your own food. You are close to the soil. You use the basic elements -- water, sunlight, earth, air, and plants -- for your work, your sustenance, and your pleasure. You nurture your garden from feedings to nature plants, tending, pruning, weeding. Year after year, you see cycles come and go, from sprouting to harvest to withering, to seeding again. You eat your plats to live. You don't mind and they don't mind. Some day, you will fall back to this earth, back into the sun-baked dirt, and you will become food for the plants. It's the way of all life, and all very agreeable."

                                Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

Sad but what is happening is climate change in action.
Here in Cotati there has hardly been a summer with coolish temperatures abounding as in 2023. All of the tomato plants fruits are slow, very slow, to ripen no matter the variety nor location. The Silvery Fir Tree, touted to be early in ripening . . . not this year. In my humble opinion this is the tastiest ripe tomato. Next year I plan to plant more than the 4 planted this year. I was introduced to this variety in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life a book written by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver and Steven L. Hopp. This book takes place in Virginia where the family dramatically change their lives by growing and/or eating only local food. 

I am wondering if the fruit on the tomato plants growing in the West most raised bed will ripen. I decided to plant them in this bed since it typically gets the most sunshine. So far I have not had very many ripe tomatoes to pick and eat. So as I plan my garden this winter I may decide to grow different varieties of tomatoes. Perhaps I will return to what I planted in 2022.

The tomatoes now growing, at PageRefuge are

    Cherry tomatoes:

 1. Amethyst Jewel

  2. Black Cherry      

 3. Blue “Boar” Berries

        4. Tim’s Taste of Paradise, a yellow cherry tomato 

     Earliest ripening tomato

         5. Stupice

      Early ripening

   6. Silvery Fir Tree

Don't you just love the leaves?

            Remaining 

        7. Blue Gold  

While these are "pretty" and tasty
this is the last season they will be
planted in one of the raised beds.

While this post was in process, my stepdaughter and her husband were immersed in Seattle's Bumbershoot 2023.

This year's Bumbershoot
was spear headed by Steven
who many did not recognize
with his long hair.

Leigh Sims
who owns her own business in Seattle
 and Steven Severin, 
"a mover and shaker" in Seattle

Meanwhile here in Cotati daily chores were tended to. However I frequently during the Labor Day weekend had many a frequent belly