Pokeberries Galore

Pokeberries Become Art

I've always loved pokeberries. They're considered a weed around here, but they are delightful in many ways. The color displays go from red and pale pink to fuchsia and deep purple. The leaves are beautiful in the fall with chartreuse and orange foliage.  When the berries get ripe in the fall, you can crush them and a marvelous violet purple juice comes out.   I love to study and draw them this time of year.  Here's how looking and appreciating becomes art......

The Craft of Knife Making

I recently spent an evening in the shop with Luke and David from Blood Root Blades, a local duo of knife makers.  I enjoyed chatting about their process, how they began, and the future of this great company.

Not only was I taken by the rustic beauty of each hand-crafted knife, but the process and story of each knife is so inspiring.

Each knife is entirely handmade from sustainable ingredients which just adds to the story of each piece. The two oftentimes use a rusty saw blades, retired files, metal from an old car, or even metal from a ship wreck. The handles may be carved wood, antlers, or copper.  The two also make handles by making laminates from fabrics such as burlap coffee bags from our local roaster or old blue jeans.

Click here to read more about Blood Root Blades.  Thanks Luke and David for letting me come out!

autumn clematis

a sign that fall approaches...

Fresh Tomato Bruschetta

Right about now our tomato plants are exhausted from the heat or are having a second blast after a couple of cooler days.  Our plants have been troopers all summer long and given us plenty of great tomatoes.  With our basil plant fuller than ever I decided to make some bruschetta.  Nothing tastes better than a tomato...fresh off the vine!

Ingredients

fresh tomatoes

garlic

basil

salt olive oil

directions

Chop everything up coarsely and toss together in a bowl.

Let ingredients rest for 15 minutes and then drain juices.

Spoon over fresh French Bread that is thinly sliced and lightly toasted.

Late Summer Sunflowers

Old Smelter

Up in Floyd, Virginia, a friend led us to this old copper smelter deep in the woods.  It's a mammoth stone chimney, about 20 feet tall. The copper was melted down over a fire at the bottom, and the fire was fed through an opening in the very top. Now the smelter is getting slowly overgrown, it's history slowly being forgotten.  Few people know where it is, and even fewer know what it is.

Broad Street Garden

We have a new neighborhood garden.  It is Athens one and only urban garden which encourages neighborhood participation and support.  We have spent a little time at the garden and have had countless meals made from the garden's bounty.

If you want to lend a hand they allow volunteers Monday to Saturday, 7am to 11am.  The garden is located on the corner of Broad and Paris streets, behind the old Rutland school.

late summer pods

chinese rain tree pods, clematis, maple seeds