Autumn Again (woohoo!)

I've gathered random images to celebrate today -- the first day of fall!

This tall collection of antlers that we came across just outside the National Bison Range said "autumn" to me. In truth, spring seems to be time that horn hunters, as they're called (see Montana Outdoors) gather for official collecting of shed deer antlers. The antler tree that we saw earlier this month looked architectural and barren, like a beautiful tree free of its leaves in late fall. 

I find that black kale, also called dinosaur kale or Tuscan kale, is absurdly easy to grow here. I have such a huge couple of plants that I harvest every other week, wash, remove stems, blanch for a couple of minutes, throw into a bowl of ice water, drain and plop into freezer bags for mid-winter soups, quiches or frittatas.

When we got an early frost this month, we covered all tomatoes and basil plants with old row-cover fabric
 left over from last winter. Some tomato foliage got hit but the fruit survived.

We drive up Willow Creek for a picnic and see a few patches of wild shrubs turning the reds and yellows of autumn.

A wildlife crossing is a feature that we often drive under north of Missoula. It looks brown and fall-like to me. We've never seen a critter crossing.

One of the pristine ditches that carries water for summer irrigation in this high-desert town looks especially lovely on a fall evening. Ditches soon will get drained for winter.

Sunflowers and other fall blooms come to me as a gift from a neighbor. JoAnn got them at the Hamilton Farmers' Market. I add eucalyptus from a previous bouquet and instantly am sorry. This gorgeousness doesn't need them. Oh well.

And my tomatoes -- heirloom Cherokee Purple, Black Cherry, Amish Paste and medium-sized ones called Stupice -- are still going gangbusters. Today's first-day-of-fall harvest joins yesterday's pickings in our mud room/laundry room because space in the kitchen has plum run out! It's a "Little House on the Prairie" around here, but truly, who knew that vegetable gardening in our little in-town micro climate in Hamilton, MT, could be so much fun?!