This week, particularly, we’ve been feeling the cooler air move in, signalling the beginning of autumn weather. Leaves on the trees are beginning to turn colour and we’re seeing vivid reds on our street.

Though not many leaves have fallen, I’ve seen squirrels hunting and gathering for their winter stash of food. As I planted two new chrysanthemums into my flowerbed and relocated bulbs, among the bulbs I found an acorn. Some squirrel thinks my garden is a good place to stash stuff, but it may be harder to find the next time.

giant pumpkins at the fall fair

We humans save food too, not in the way that small animals do. Those of us who have learned to preserve have been busy. My cold room shelf is certainly fuller than it was this summer. I’ve pickled beets and frozen peaches, applesauce and  strawberries.

My friend Doris and I, and my two oldest granddaughters, made dill pickles and bread and butter pickles (finding a recipe we want to do again).

Doris and I also gathered our produce from the market and made fruit relish, a favourite complement to omelettes, chicken or sausage.

community garden

I learned, as I grew up on a farm—where we grow what we can and buy what we cannot grow—that when the produce is at its peak of freshness, that’s when the canning is best done. One chooses the best fruit and vegetables and processes them right away.

pickled beets

Plenty of willing helpers makes the job go well

Bread and Butter pickles

Speaking of the natural environment and growing things, our federal government has offered a financial boost to the tree-planting that was slated for cuts earlier this year. It would be both sad and disastrous if such a thing actually happened. My Dad would be happy with the new plan, if he were here to read it in the news.

Take care of your fall preparations, stow away what you don’t need from summer, but do enjoy the coloured panorama as you drive down the highways over the next weeks.