The equinox has come and gone. The calendar says it is autumn. Today I went up to my garden to look over the next two big projects that are calling for my attention. I did just that. I looked at the location for planting next years garlic and I pondered the removal of the tomato cages but that was it. My garden gusto is gone. The forcast frost from September 16-18th never came. And now there is no frost in sight for a couple of weeks. I don't want to plant my garlic too early but it won't get a good start if I plant it too late. And because my tomatoes suffered a blow from leafspot septoria, I've been instructed to remove the plant debris from the area and either burn it or wrap it in plastic bags and send it to the dump. Luckily the fungus did nothing to harm my tomato crop. So here I am...poised for the cold weather that isn't coming. My latest craze has been to escape into the woods for many hours at a time of happy mushroom hunting. It takes me away from the burden of my dying garden and provides wonderful flavors that I never planted seeds for. I really love to forage. The woods are quiet and smell of moist decay. There has been enough moisture to cause a wonderful bloom of mushrooms in the woods and as I follow the stream beds into the forest, the happy trickle is a kind of music that plays as I walk. Sadie is my companion and there is absolutely nothing on my mind except mushies. Its absolutely thrilling to mosey around in the woods and to stop in a spot and look down to see otherwise invisible black trumpet mushrooms suddenly appear among the leaves. I sometimes feel like I've been led to the colony by a Black Trumpet fairy. I've been showing the mushrooms to Sadie and letting her smell them. I also have her witness my collecting them. If a dog can sniff out marijuana in suitcases why not choice edible mushrooms in the dirt. I remind myself of a pig snorfing truffles. I relish the hunt and feel a happy contentment when I find some. But the biggest thrill of all is the creating of a fine meal with these tender woodland fungiis and savoring their delicate flavor. Now as I realize the beginning of the end of hummingbird season, I need not be sad because it is the beginning of the fall mushroom season. My garden is dying anyway, so I can allow my attentions to stray as long as I keep putting up my produce. One love ends and another begins and I hardly miss a beat. Most amazing is my almost full time employment in my kitchen. Such a happy room to work in. I am truly blessed. I feel the turning of the wheel. The sun goes down on my personal/family garden and all the work it generates. But my attentions turn to my Mother Earth's garden and to foraging for a brand new passion. We've had a Wild Mushroom Alfredo sauce on angel hair pasta...a wild mushroom soup...a Black Trumpet/Chanterelle Risotto...and a homemade wild mushroom pizza. Today I had a nice hot cup of Turkeytail/Birch Polypore tea and imagine myself building a wild forest immune system that can stave off any virus I encounter. Foraging for mushrooms is a celebration of whatever pops up in life...spontaneous and often well camouflaged, they pop up and call for your attention and voila...dinner. I'm so excited that I am going to put on my muck boots and head for the woods. Will I find something? No guarantees. Something wonderful will pop up and I will be sustained. It's natural law...the turn of the wheel.
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