A Fall Day in the Sawtooth Mountains of Northern Minnesota

The magic of fall on Raspberry Ridge is in full splendor. The days have been in the 60's and we've had several nights hovering in the 30's. Our sugar maples are dripping with delicious reds, warm pumpkin and bright yellows of the season. The aspen on the mountain across the Beaver River are gearing up for their annual dusk display of brilliance as the waning autumn sun grants passage to the moon and stars.

A first year black bear cub with an empty stomach visited our garbage can early in the afternoon. It left behind evidence strewn into the woods. I cleaned up the smelly leftovers and went inside to make dinner. As we were eating, I heard a sound and ran out to interrupt our return guest. There it was looking at me looking at it. We sized each other up for a minute and then I greeted it with "Hey bear... Hey bear" as I lifted my arms high to let it know I'm a human and it should stop this misadventure. It hesitated while it tried to pull the bag it had almost freed and then bolted into the woods a short distance from the easy meal.

It's hungry or it wouldn't risk coming this close to humans. An early spring brought abundant berries and nuts but now the bears find little food and it's too early to hibernate. Garbage is not the answer for this little one though. It will only lead to problems for the bear and us so in go the garbage cans for the rest of the season.

We are watching patiently as our first year garden reluctantly yields ripe, organic tomatoes after some encouragement with floating row covers. We had an early spring but then a cold snap brought the garden to a stand still. Now, it seems these portable greenhouses will have to extend our growing season a bit to bring in the bounty. We had a successful first year organic garden and plans for many more to come.

I just harvested the sweet corn this week and put it in the freezer. We've enjoyed lettuce, green beans, new potatoes, peas, zucchini, summer squash, Thai, Serrano, and jalapeno peppers, cilantro, cucumbers, dill, garlic, chamomile, spearmint, and chives. I also planted high bush blueberries, bush cherries and rhubarb for harvesting over the years to come.

You may wonder why I haven't mentioned planting raspberries since our bed and breakfast will be known as Raspberry Ridge. Well, we have the good fortune to have an abundance of wild, red raspberry bushes along with saskatoon, pin cherry, thimble berry and strawberry.

Jim completed the exterior trim around the french doors off the dining room today. I finished the final sanding of the log walls in the first floor bedroom. We couldn't ask for a more perfect fall day at Raspberry Ridge.