a walk in the August forest

St.John's Wort, harvested from the wild and ready to be made into tincture

Toadflax

Giant Millipede (Narceus americanus)

Heal-All (Prunella vulgaris)

Wild Oregano

And when we got home, pizza!

As the days turn a bit cooler, we are finally able to explore our beautiful woods. The mosquitos and deer flies, for the most part, leave us alone and we can wander slowly if we like, stopping to examine the myriad of forest creatures and natural wonders along the way. There is the most wonderful 'mossy place' which we love to visit, as the moss is soft underfoot like a squishy carpet, and everything is bright green and so lush! I have always loved moss, and mushrooms too, and I photograph these things perhaps more than anythings else wherever I go.
We found wildflowers on our walk; toadflax, viper's bugloss, heal-all, St.John's wort, bee balm and wild bergamot and we harvested a bit of the S.John's wort to be made into tincture. We will transplant some of the toadflax and heal-all to our shady garden spot as well; How nice it will be to have these growing closer to us!
We were likely exploring in the woods for 2 1/2 hours which is a good amount of time for the littlest travellers! We stopped frequently so they could sip a bit of their orange juice which Ollie gallantly carried the entire time in his backpack, and when we returned home, we made some delicious (gluten-free) pizza!