Pictured: Sunrise behind Mt. Hood and all that smoke 8/3/26
| This week was hot, plain and simple. It also started off really smoky after getting a northeast wind to blow all the wildfire smoke our way. We kept to the house most of the time while the smoke hung around but it cleared out nicely by the weekend! We caught some great action on our trail-cams and the Merlin app, explored the local plants on our woods walk, and checked in on the garden harvests. Enjoy! Amy | Table of Contents: ~ Folklore in Action ~ Spying on Wildlife: Trail-cam Videos! ~ The Birds: Discovering with the Merlin App ~ Woods Walks: Hidden Finds & Plants ~ The Garden: New Blooms & Harvests ~ Garden Guide: Phenology at Work ~ The Funnies: Plant & Nature Humor ~ The Blog: Upcoming Editions |
The weird red orb – sunrise in the smoke 8/4/26. It just kept getting worse! As regional wildfires like the Grasshopper Fire grew, the thick smoke blanket acted like a giant filter. It scattered away all the blue and green light, leaving only this surreal, deep crimson sun glowing through the haze.
Folklore in Action
I’ve been thinking back on stories from my youth and it’s prompted me to also start researching folk practices from places in the Ozarks, Appalachians, etc. One of the stories I remembered hearing a lot of was about “water witching” – seeking water using copper rods or a forked willow branch.
I decided to dig out my copper rods (pictured below), purchased many years ago, to start practicing again. Getting into the folklore makes me feel more in touch with the family who’ve passed on and their ancestors who’ve gone before them too.
Spying on Wildlife: Trail-cam Videos!
The creek log is still the most interesting camera we have down in the woods.
There was a lightning-fast weasel, a squirrel not happy a quail is in his way, and the Great Blue Heron came back for another visit!
The Birds: Discovering with the Merlin App
My Merlin app life bird for this week! Just saw it for a second by the creek before it took off.
There were Pine Siskins making lots of noise but I never managed to see one of those. We heard the Red Crossbill and Red-breasted Nuthatch like crazy along with a few regulars.
Our old fir trees in the pasture by the road looked like something straight out of a Halloween movie with all the Turkey Vultures perched up in them! I decided to take a walk to see what all the fuss was about. All I found was a dead squirrel in the road—they must be hungry for that many to show up for such a tiny meal!
While looking around, I also spotted a beautiful feather down in the pasture grass. It appears to be a tail feather from a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. It isn’t too surprising to find, since I see them flying over that area quite often.
Woods Walks: Hidden Finds & Plants
There are no blooms of note this time of year, but the foraging is excellent. The Himalayan Blackberry bushes are full of yummy fruit right now! I also noticed the Cutleaf Evergreen Blackberry is beginning to ripen too, though I don’t find them nearly as tasty.
Our local wetland, completely transformed by the summer heat 8/8/26.
The Garden: New Blooms & Harvests
The Cardinal Flower (Lobelia x speciosa) is starting to bloom this week; hummingbirds just love it!
Shane’s still getting some strawberries from his young plants, our first zucchini, and his lettuce is making terrific salads!
Garden Guide: Phenology at Work
I switched to using phenology to plan my garden, so I created a practical planting guide to help you do the same! Instead of following a rigid calendar, phenology means watching local indicator plants to know exactly when the soil is ready for your crops.
Note: If you grow any of your crops in containers or bucket gardens, expect your phenological timeline to move faster than what is happening in the ground. Because containers are exposed to the ambient summer air on all sides, their soil temperatures are significantly elevated compared to the earth. Whether it is root development, leafy green production, or warm-season fruiting; expect bucket-grown crops to hit their harvest triggers up to two weeks earlier than their in-ground counterparts!
What to look for in Mid-August:
– Himalayan Blackberries are ripening faster, but not quite to peak ripeness!
Harvest immediately as they become ready:
– Onions (Last Call): If 50-80% of the green tubular tops flopped over and you stopped watering 1-2 weeks ago, now is the time to harvest.
– Collard Greens (Last Call) – harvest before the heat makes them bitter.
– Bush Beans (Last Call)
– Summer Raspberries (Last Call)
– Early Blueberries (Last Call)
– Japanese Plums (Last Call)
– New Potatoes
– Beets
– Swiss Chard
– Pole Beans
– Summer Squash
– Cucumbers
– Himalayan Blackberries
– Evergreen Huckleberries
– Red Elderberries
– Early European Plums
– Early Peaches
– Early Apples
– Early European Pears
Fall planting prep is shifting into high gear!
Keep prepping your emptying bush and pole bean beds for incoming fall crops. Be sure to gather your shade cloth now to protect tender new transplants from the upcoming blazing heat.
Make sure you pay attention to what nature is doing, as the months listed are APPROXIMATE, especially with the crazy weather we’ve experienced this past winter until now! It may seem early to start some tasks, but trust that nature knows exactly what it’s doing! Just because I am here in Molalla, OR, doesn’t mean you can’t use the same phenology in your own yard! The concepts work anywhere, though the exact timing will shift—for example, higher elevations or colder regions may take longer for some plants to bloom or set fruit.
Ready to garden by nature’s clock?
The Funnies: Plant & Nature Humor
The Blog: Upcoming Editions
We’ll see you next week on August 17th for the next Gardens & Nature, where fall planting is on the horizon and more crops are ready for harvest!
Be on the lookout on September 1st for our monthly Livestock Edition, where we talk about how sheep breeding season is going!
In case you missed the latest:
Livestock Edition: August 2026
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~ Thank You!~
Hollow Hills Ranch 