This mushroom season has been great so far. A long sunny stretch in the next ten days or so ought to slow it down for a bit. This year I finally found the coveted Chanterelle and King Bolete while exploring the property we are looking to move our farm to. There were so many I jammed them into my over shirt!
While exploring we spooked a family of partridge which one-by-one flew out from the underbrush of the forest floor. Not long after a woodcock just about gave me a heart attack.
Deer and moose tracks sunk deeply in damp spots as we navigated through forested thickets, old skidder trails and tall grasses. This all helps to make the move a little easier for my heart. One the way out two turkey hens with their heads held low and stuck out ahead of them somewhat gracefully trotted across a bordering pasture.
A host of other types and colors of fungi littered the forest floor. It had been a stressful day and the little adventure ended up being a great spirit-lifter.
We have three properties on the market currently which makes for a complicated move for us—especially with winter sneaking up on us. The constant showings, tenant communications and Airbnb guests are a stark reminder of why we are selling off and hiding out in the woods. And I thought parenting, chicken tending and goat wrangling was difficult. Wrong. All of the leg-work behind selling-off is a good motivator to press on and do my best to facilitate a smooth transition for everyone involved.
Just yesterday we accepted an offer on a property which has thick tangles of grapevines lining fencing and an apple tree heavily laden with ripening apples. I would love to press some apples and try my hand at homemade hard cider and to clone plants for planting elsewhere. Things are too busy this year. I will enjoy the fruit and find a place to start an orchard next year. Winter is coming and it’s time to stock up and find a place to hibernate.
