The Coming of Fall

Even though it is still in the high 90's I can begin to see the turning point of plants and leaves.  Below are some pictures of  plants that are showing us that there is a change coming to the countryside.

Lindheimers Senna

I have waited all summer for this plant to flower. Apparently the deer do, I repeat, do not eat this plant...hmmm we will see if I start missing some blooms.

Prickly Pear Apples

Some of these apples are becoming a deep red...in the spring they were just a beautiful yellow bloom.  They are edible, but I don't think they are worth the effort.  They have little hair like thorns and so many seeds.  Maybe to cook and strain them would work, but first you have to get past the stickers.

Green and Ripe Persimmons

The black persimmons are full of seeds, but you can eat them....not so on the green ones. Oh, and don't eat the seeds.
 I made one little jar of persimmon preserve.  It did not have much flavor, but it was ok. If you had nothing else to eat and were starving, it would be great.   I did not add any sugar, so it was sugar free, but they were sweet enough.  The  other draw back--- it turns your teeth kind of black.   But like I said, if you were starving and had nothing else to eat...who would care about black teeth.  But beware!  Don't eat anything in the wild that you are not sure about.  That goes for the Pear Apples and the Persimmons.