Fall Colors

While I prefer the delicate subtle colors of spring, most people prefer the bold colors of fall. Locally, fall is just about at peak color right now. Here are some highlights.

One of the roads on our property just as the trees are beginning their fall color.

Dogwood (Cornus florida) leaves.

Winged (or Shining) sumac (Rhus copallinum) turns a brilliant red.

Pignut hickory (Carya glabra) provides a golden glow.

Red maples (Acer rubrum) live up to their name in the fall.

White pines (Pinus strobus) contrast with black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) and pignut hickory.

A striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum) in the process of turning red.

Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is one of the few woody plants that blooms in the fall after the leaves have dropped.

DC Bike Trails

We spent last weekend riding trails in the Washington, DC area. On Saturday we started at the beginning of the C&O Canal trail, and finished in downtown Bethesda, Maryland, on the Capitol Crescent Trail. Sorry, no pictures. But it was a very good ride (and paved).

Sunday we road the Mount Vernon trail from Alexandria to Mount Vernon. This is another paved trail. I had been expecting a relatively flat trail, since it follows the Potomac River. But the last 5 miles are full of short up-and-down hills, with a long 100-ft climb at the Mount Vernon end.

Both trails were quite crowded, as it was a beautiful, warm fall weekend.

The Mt Vernon Trail parallels the George Washington Memorial Parkway. This makes for a noisy ride.

A couple of boardwalks traverse marshes. There are also numerous small bridges crossing gullies and ravines.

Boardwalk over the Dyke Marsh.

Birds (herons?) sitting on the piles of a washed-out pier.

Mount Vernon is the end or beginning of the trail -- depending upon your perspective!

A panoramic view of the Potomac River.

Alexandria -- Cameron Run meets the Potomac.

Fall Food Fun - Part 2 - Sumac

I'm trying something new this year -- making sumac spice and sumac tea ("Indian lemonade", or my favorite, "Rhus Juice") from the great number of sumac on our property. The Middle-Eastern spice za'atar is made from Rhus coriaria, but I made mine from the local sumacs: Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) and Shining (or Winged) Sumac (Rhus copallina). As far as I can tell, any of the sumacs with red berries can be used. ("Sumacs" with white berries, are now placed in the Toxicodendron genus, and include Poison Ivy and Poison Sumac. Obviously they must be avoided -- the genus name says it all "Poison Tree"!)

Rhus Juice (Sumac Tea)

I made tea by covering about six berry clusters with cold water and then crushing the berries with my hands; they were mildly sticky. The brewing tea had a pleasant citrus-y aroma. I tasted the brew after about two hours, and decided that I would let it steep overnight.

After about 12 hours of steeping, I filtered the mixture through a coffee filter. The liquid had a slight yellow color and a refreshing taste. I think I made it too weak. Next time I'd add only about half the water I did this time.

Spice

First I had to let the berries dry. Here are two freshly-picked clusters.

The same clusters after several weeks of drying.

After removing the dried berries from the stems and leaves, I pulsed them in a small grinder.

I used a small sieve to separate the powder from the seeds. Two clusters made about 2 tsp of spice -- clearly I need to use more next year -- but at least I'll have enough to play with. A quick taste of the spice seemed to have very little flavor.

The Trees

Sumacs are pretty shrubs/trees, but can be difficult to control -- they form large colonies from their roots, and birds spread the seeds widely.

Shining Sumac (because of the glossy leaves) is also called Winged Sumac because of the "wings" along the leaf stalk.

A cluster of Shining Sumac berries.

Staghorn Sumac

Staghorn Sumac flower cluster.

Sumacs turn brilliant yellow-orange-red in the fall. This photo shows Staghorn Sumac.

And this is the deep red of Shining Sumac.

Another Trip to Pittsburgh

Our (only, so far) grandchild lives in Pittsburgh. So that's all the excuse we need. I spent last week there helping with child-care duties and enjoying some beautiful weather in Pittsburgh's famous (and fabulous) parks.

An entrance gate to Frick Park -- although the park is not fenced, and can be entered along much of the perimeter.

One of the trails in Frick Park.

Look carefully near the top of the photo and you can see Forbes Ave about 100 feet above the main ravine in Frick Park.

Armstrong Playground on the South Side.

Pittsburghers love their model trains. This one is set up in Phipps Conservatory to celebrate "200 Years of Pittsburgh". Many Pittsburgh landmarks are incorporated into the display including the Dusquene Incline, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, the Cathedral of Learning, and Phipps, itself.

Love that trolley!

Enjoying the "Stove Room" in the Phipps Conservatory, which has butterflies during the summer -- right now only a few remained.

The outdoor area at the Center for Sustainable Landscapes. The large glass structure in the background is the new Tropical Forest Conservatory. Both are part of the Phipps Conservatory.

Paying attention to details in the Discovery Garden, another outdoor area at Phipps.

Fall Food Fun - Part 1 - Apple Cider

Fall means that apples are ripe. Time for cooking with apples. Some people make applesauce or apple butter. We make fresh cider. When we first moved to Virginia, unpasteurized cider was readily available, but public health concerns makes it nearly impossible to sell any more. So about eight years ago, we bought a cider press on eBay and started making it ourselves.

First stop is the apple tree. Sometimes we buy apples, but this year, our neighbors who have two apple trees in their yard let us harvest from their trees.

One of two bushels of apples.

Even though we got them off the tree, and not off the ground, the apples still needed a quick bath before we would process them. The bathtub is the best place to do this!

The apples have to be shredded before squeezing the juice out them. This is about the only thing we use our food processor for.

The shredded apples are placed in the cider press.

As the shredded apples are pressed, the cider flows out.

A closer look at the cider flowing from the press.

We strain the cider before pouring it into storage bottles.

The apple remains will get dumped onto our compost heap.

Enjoy!

Picking the apples took about 45 minutes. Washing took another 45 minutes. Processing the two bushels took about 3 hours. Clean up took another 30 minutes. But now we have five and half gallons (about 20 liters) to enjoy. Since fresh cider starts to ferment rather quickly, we put three gallons in the freezer. We'll probably try one more pressing to have fresh cider for Thanksgiving.