October 1 – The cultivar name of this little sedum* is rattling around in my brain but failing to surface, so we’ll just concentrate on the fact that it has amazing fall colour, shall we? I planted this beauty in the community garden a couple of years ago and it has toughed it out over cycles of severe cold and drought. #nofilter #prairiegardening
*DYK that Sedum spp. have now been reclassified as Hylotelephium spp.? What a mouthful!

October 6 – If you’ve ever grown purple orach, you know how … ahem … productive it can be. I love to eat the tender leaves when the plants are babies; the flavour is spinach-like. One of the gardeners in our community garden likes to save the seeds, and seriously, she must get bucketsful every year. #seedsaving #eatyourveggies #prairiegardening

October 8 – Incredible autumn morning on the lake today … #fallcolors (Chain Lakes Reservoir, southern Alberta)

October 9 – A bit of vandalism at the community garden earlier this week…some potatoes and onions dug up (but not stolen, just chucked around), some squash and cabbage stomped on and thrown about. We have had several shed break-ins over the years, including an incident of arson that fortunately didn’t destroy the structure, but veggie damage and theft hasn’t been a problem. This sort of thing is a reality with community gardening, however, and in this case, appears to be mischief. #communitygarden

October 13 – No caption needed. #fallcolors #thanksgiving (Beaver Lake, central Alberta)

October 14 – Perfect calm on a prairie lake …. #thanksgiving #alberta (Clear Lake, southern Alberta)

October 15 – Lovage is a large (read: ridiculously humongous) plant, a perennial in our cold climate, and a prolific (read: obscenely abundant) producer of fragrant, strong-tasting leaves, stems, and seeds. Fresh leaves can be used in soups, stir fries, egg dishes, and even for an unique pesto. I like to dehydrate the leaves, powder them, and sprinkle them into dishes. The stems are sometimes candied and used as sweets or to decorate cakes. The seeds can be added to pickles or candied as well. (To do that: dissolve two parts granulated sugar in one part water by warming the ingredients over low heat. Pour the syrup over the seeds, straining off the excess. Allow the seeds to cool. Use them to garnish shortbread or sugar cookies or gingerbread cake…or lemon custard or vanilla pudding or….) #herbs ##prairiegardening

October 19 – The larch are still larching* in my neighborhood, though they’re thinning quickly. The rest of the needles will likely fall when the snow arrives next week. *very official botanical term, of course

October 20 – Abscission. #fallcolors #snowisonitswayandiamnotexcitedintheslightest

October 23 – With some careful orchestration and a grant awarded by the Calgary Arts Development Authority, the Board president of the Somerset Bridlewood Community Association Sarah Milne and the fun, creative mind of local artist Faith Vavara brought art to life on a plain old utility box in our neighborhood! Ward 13 councilor Dan McLean helped us officially unveil the public artwork this afternoon. Isn’t it absolutely adorable?

October 29 – A gorgeous drive to @ellisnaturecentre this morning! A huge thank you to this very special wildlife sanctuary and educational centre for carrying my cookbook The Little Prairie Book of Berries over the 2024 season! The centre is closed for this year but I encourage everyone to make plans to visit in 2025! @touchwooded #prairie #cookbook