Fall Fruit

The vineyard is full of fruit in the fall, and not just grapes. Every fruiting bush and tree is putting forth its bounty: walnuts, chestnuts, apples, roses, and countless varieties of berries. The summer fruit is mostly gone, but some plums remain, shriveled into prunes, waiting to become a meal for somebody, be it mammal, bird, insect, or bacterium.

Bright red rose hips.

What the neighboring humans (like us) don't gather, the local fauna will. There is one walnut tree on the vineyard road, but I didn't get any of them this year. One of our neighbors was out early one morning with a bag picking up as many nuts as he could. He said they were pretty small this year.

Apples ripen on a small tree in the vineyard.

The roses that grow wild out on the edges of the woods put on quite a show in the fall with their cherry-red hips standing out brightly against the green and brown stems. Many of them will remain through the winter before finally disappearing.