Today's Soup 'n Walk was held on a glorious fall day. The leaves were just starting to change, and enough had fallen on the trails that we could swish through the leaves. The meadow was still showing some color, a few goldenrods, Maryland asters, and dogbane were still in bloom, and there were many beautiful seedheads. On entering the forest, we were struck by the beautiful red and orange foliage. There were many bright red berries on the dogwood, and the poison ivy was in full color! It was good to see water in the creek again, and we noted that the ferns were not as lush as in past years due to the drought. There were beautiful yellow tulip tree leaves on the trails, which led to a discussion of remembering to look up into the tall trees to see their color. We were able to find several hearts-a-bursting still with their seedheads, and we discussed the green stems that stay evergreen, along with the greenbriar. Julianna noted some rattlesnake orchid leaves just as a small snake slithered by! Fun! The moss was lovely in the sunlight, and we noted the small round spores on them that looked like mushrooms. It was a good day to see beauty all around us.
By Mary Jo Kubeluis
Arboretum Docent Naturalist
We really did luck out on the weather today. Yesterday was very rainy, but today the sun was shining and the temperature was in the 60s. It was perfect weather for a fall walk in the woods. Mary Jo K did the color walk, and Bill T. did his mushroom walk. We had 29 paying guests who divided into two groups.
The fall color really popped out during the past week with the change in hours of daylight. The sassafras, tupelo, and dogwood were sporting different shades of red at the edge of the woods. The tulip trees and hickories were a brilliant gold color. Sweet gum trees ranged from yellow to red to purple. We were treated to our fall fern, the cutleaf grape fern, on the Blockston Branch Trail. Since it had rained the day before, plenty of mushrooms were also spotted along the trail.
Everyone enjoyed the carrot and ginger soup (some with dried mushrooms from Bill), the salad with red peppers, barley oat bread with orange ricotta or apple butter, and lastly, a luscious apple pie with crumb crust and red apple cranberry sauce. Many said they planned to try the delicious and nutritious recipes that they took home. Mickey decorated with colorful bouquets. Other helpers were Zaida W., Pat B., Pat R., Shirley B., Kelli M., and Diana at the desk. Many busy hands helped set the tables and clean up afterward. Thank you to everyone for making this a successful Soup 'n Walk.
By Julianna Pax
Arboretum Docent Naturalist
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