This is going to be our last grapes to pick. There are some blueberries at the bottom of the bowl, though hard to distinguish them from grapes.
This year, we did not pick much fruit from our garden, because a pair of Bulbuls nested in summer, which we did not want to disturb. We gave up on picking cherries and other summer fruit for them. After the Bulbul family were gone, we began to have unexpected visitors-several different species of wasps. They visited our willow trees to forage for small insects as well as to collect parts of leaves and barks, by chewing off with their big jaws. Even if I knew they wouldn't attack people when they were away from their nests, their presence made me feel reluctant to go pick grapes and blueberries.
Wasps' visits stopped 2 days ago all of the sudden, which probably meant that their wintering queens are now out and left the nests. It also means that all the workers didn't have to collect food and nest material any more. They are now.....quietly awaiting their time to depart, that is, one sudden cold night which will take away their lives.
Autumn is a cruel season, as well as it is the season of harvest and bounty.
The seed cases in close-up. As seen in the photo, each seed has a "wing" which makes it easier to be carried by the winds.
By mid-October, the sheaths (or seed cases) turn brown. The sheath tissues gradually become dry , which makes them crack open from the top. This is the ingeneous part of the seed-cases. The seeds which are stacked in columns (like CDs in a "value-package") get blown off from the top in small numbers at a time.
After having been pollinated by various insects, the flowers are slowly transformed into egg-shaped sheaths where seeds are stored and mature.
This lily is found in wooded areas. The long flower stalk begins to grow in May and the flowers usually bloom in Late June to July. This photo was taken around the first week of July 2010.
The wind turbines which had been built about 10 year ago, located several kilometers from the sand dunes. There are only three turbines in this area, but four years ago, a White-tailed Sea Eagle collided with one of them and was found dead.
There are more than ten species of mushrooms found only on sand dunes. All of them are vulnerable to changes in their habitats.
This photo is the base area of a wind turbine. The sand dunes will be lost and become a flat barren graveled area like this.
A few days ago, we went to see the sand dunes in Otaru, where a wind farm company is planning to build 15 wind turbines. The turbines, according to their plan, are going to be built on the sand dunes which are only 100 to 150m from the shore. the widths of the dunes are very narrow - just 20 to 30m. The base area of each turbine, including the the concrete turbine base and the road and flat area for maintenance will be around 50 x 50m. This means that the entire sand dunes will be devastated almost completely if they are to be built.
So I made the salad. All organic ingredients, including the tomato and chopped parsley!
Blueberry jam (above) and grape jam (bottom) I made from the havest. Too little? Yes, but I am quite satisfied and hoping I can harvest more next year. They tasted really good indeed.
This is going to be our last grapes to pick. There are some blueberries at the bottom of the bowl, though hard to distinguish them from grapes. 
