The Prairie at Elten and Carolyn's.
The garden
seems to have come to a standstill. Each plant, each rose, each bush is covered
with the Autumm dew each morning and stands picturesque throughout the day.
Nothing grows, but nothing dies…yet.
The
neighborhood gardens have all taken quite a toll by our local herd of deer.
Don’t get me wrong, I love knowing the deer roam freely under the streetlights
as they jump fences (mine included) in their nightly foraging for food. At a
neighborhood picnic the other night we were all lamenting our garden losses. I
thought I was the only one losing out on the vegetable patch, until I heard all
the other stories. This is really the first year the deer have jumped my picket
fence to devour all the goodies. It is good there are small and big markets all
around the county since my own bounty is very limited this year.
With September
brimming with bright blue skies and heavy-laden apple trees, we find ourselves
pulled into the Autumn activities. These are my very favorite. As the sun
creeps lower in the sky and night crickets fill the air around my house, my
thoughts go to food first of all. I made my first batch of vegetable soup this
week. It was good to have the stove on and a pot of soup simmering. I have made
more peach cobblers this past month than ever before. Maybe there have been
more potlucks? I took a cobbler fresh out of the oven to the tail-gating party
on Friday night for Angola’s football game. I love that I have been invited and
that I am known simply as The Nannie. That’s what my sweatshirt says anyway. There
were lots of kids at that tailgating party who all said to me, “What is a
cobbler?” Oh my. They soon found out!
With this
mid-September beauty I find I am filling my hummingbird feeders every other day
as they prepare for their journey. Hummingbirds can fly up to 500 miles without
even stopping. How is that possible? I have no idea, but I keep the flowers
blooming and the syrup fresh to help them on their way.
Not just the
hummingbirds, but Indiana is right on the migration path for so many birds.
According to the website, Bird Cast, 1,482,000 birds crossed Indiana from
Monday night at 8:10 until Tuesday morning at 7:30. One night I stayed up late
in the garden just so I could listen for them, but alas, alas. The web site
updates their data every day so you can go and check that out for yourself.
Keep your porch lights off!
This is also
the time of year that Elten and Carolyn open their Prairie for walking tours. I
took Rachel with me last Sunday as she and Aaron just planted several acres of
prairie at their new farm. She wanted to see what it might look like someday.
This is the 20th anniversary year of the Powers’ prairie, and it is
spectacular. The day was perfect. Everyone received a small paper bag in which
to gather seeds to start their own Prairie. I have a small bag of seeds, but
where will I plant them?
It is
September, and I am grateful for this beautiful month. Kitchens are now full of
soups and stews, cobblers and pies, and lots of preservation happening in
kitchens all over the county. My new friend, Tawney, has just discovered
gardening during the past couple of years, and she is celebrating each tomato
or eggplant she finds in her garden. I love listening to her enthusiasm over
gardening. I need to talk to her about the deer though!
Festivals are
coming with a new one every weekend. It is time to open my own costume closet
door and pull out the old smoke-stained prairie clothes as the storytelling
takes first place in my life for the next two months. You will find me doting
the landscape with stories around campfires, on festival stages, or in your local
library!
Celebrating
Autumn is an ancient activity. The rituals are important, and the harvest just
as much. Even though my vegetable garden was enjoyed by a herd of deer, there
is much harvest everywhere else. Let’s all get busy watching, listening,
sharing, and perhaps dreaming during these beautiful days and evenings. Poetry
adds to the beauty so here is the beginning lines of John Keat’s poem, Autumn.
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
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