It is amazing how quickly the time goes. One minute I’m standing in the midst of a cornucopia of green beings, the next I am watching as they begin to relax, to let go. Many are way past bloom, some have already gone to seed, the bright green is duller now with slight hints of the color awaiting around the corner. We are close to the beginning of Autumn. Though it may be, after spending a long day wandering in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I am relieved to see some plants are in their prime! Yesterday was filled with incredible amounts of fungi, wildflowers and both medicinal and edible plants. So what is ready to harvest? The Spicebush berries are just now beginning to turn red, giving themselves away in a sea of green. This is also the time to harvest them to replace Allspice in recipes. Elderberry, Pokeberry, Vitex, Passionflower, Dandelion root, Jewelweed, Nettle root, Amaranth, Lambs Quarters and Sweet Annie are some. I will also shortly be harvesting Crossvine to have a nice stock for the upcoming winter season. Our summer has been a strange one with a lot of rain, cooler days and a good portion of the season with low humidity. In fact, there were many days we were referring to the odd weather as a “Colorado summer”. The cooler streak continues with perfect night-time temperatures….it is said that we will be having some temperatures in the upper 40′s by the end of the week! The old-timers in the area are saying that this is going to be a harsh winter with lots of snow. The squirrels are even acting a bit more hectic than usual, zig-zagging through the streets and flying from limb to limb. Even the bears seem to be more active. I wonder if they know something we don’t?
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