Fall Farm Day

I went on another farm tour in early September in the Capay valley. There are a lot of organic farms in this valley, as well as a large casino (so, so out of place).

On the way, I saw the remnants of a field of corn stalks

 And a giant research/food processing facility in woodland

 Can you see the chickens in this view?

There it is 

I ran across this sign in the fields and was a little tempted to knock out internet and phone service between the east and west coasts, but decided against it

A field of gourds. Mostly winter squashes

Such as this beautiful goose-neck squash 

Purple peppers, white peppers, so many free peppers for the picking

They were so good, everyone joined in 

This canal runs water through the valley for all the farms

a crossing to get to more fields 

Broccoli starting out for the fall 

An empty field of former cucumber. Look closely and you might find some old, yellow cucs 

 

 Asparagus bushes. Apparently the second year you get the spears

Brussel sprouts

Ripe pistachios, that is why some countries dye the shells red 

A little citrus 

 These candy-stripe figs were out of this world; so sweet and juicy, you could eat a dozen in one sitting. I made an amazing pork roast with them

Butterflies and bees on lavender

 They even had a petting zoo and hay rides

I came across this brand new field of endive or lettuce 

So cute 

High Foothills Hike and Blueberries

I recently went for a hike in the pine forest of the foothills. I haven't done much outdoors in this habitat, so it was all new to me. Then I went to pick some blueberries at some farms in the area (east of Placerville).

I first noticed how red (nutrient-poor) the soil was

 And the trees were tall, maybe 70 feet+

 The contrast between the fire managed areas and those overgrown was stark on the ground. See the difference between above and below

 Some wildflowers, despite the recent heat

 This is a sugar pine, with very large pine cones (over 14 inches)

And here is one on the ground

 There was supposed to be a good view here...

 But it was just further down the trail

 I don't think this is a snow plant, but rather a coral-root orchid, but I could be mistaken

 A small bird's nest

 This is one of the many lakes at this elevation, providing power and water to the valley. Check out how full it is, with the submerged trees to the right

 Sierra peaks in the distance

 Mmmm, blueberries

Just up the hill are the bushes 

These raspberries will be ready in a few more weeks

The tape scares off the birds, as does that black box, which emits hawk sounds

The product of my labors, yum!

And a sunset to finish off

Sierra Snow and Extended Sunset

I recently went to the Tahoe area and there was more pretty than I could capture, but here are the highlights:

The day started foggy, but up on the mountain, I could see it in the valley.

 The higher clouds here are caused by uplift of the air over that mountain.

 Pretty early on, the sun came out and shone brightly.

 It really highlighted the new snow.

 I wonder what's hiding under here?

 With the sun comes melting.

 But gives these large lichens lots of food.

 As the day wore on, the angles started getting really cool. It looked like diamonds in the snow.

 I wonder what these look like during the summer.

 I didn't realize grasses were so abundant here, usually they are covered in much more snow.

 This carved slopes really stood out to me.

On my way back home, west, the sunset lingered for over an hour and a half! Usually only 45 mins or so, my travels extended this sunset and I just died looking at all the pretty. 

Check them out in full size by clicking on the pic.