Beautiful fall golds are not just for trees. Look for large bushes along the trail from Greenway Park to Bluff Lake. And they are probably BUZZING with bees, butterflies, and moths.

Rubber Rabbitbrush is a plant native to Colorado. It is in the aster family (a cousin of the sunflower). It blooms in August through late October, when most other flowers are gone. So many pollinators visit it for nectar. The small, cottony seeds may also be enjoyed by our animal of the month, the Western Harvester Ant. As its name suggests, this bush provides shelter for jackrabbits and other small mammals on the plains.

Rubber Rabbitbrush also gets its name because it produces a substance that can be used as rubber. The Cheyenne and Navajo (Diné) have used rubber rabbitbrush for ceremonies, as a cold remedy, for chewing gum, and to make deep yellow and olive green dye. Rubber rabbitbrush is an important plant in restoring land after fires. It can survive droughts and even grows well in poor, alkaline soil.

Fall is in the air! Time to bring a slice of pumpkin bread (in your reusable container) in for snack. Check out this recipe from Food Network personality, Bobby Flay:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/perfect-pumpkin-bread-from-bobby-flay/

Photo by Marius Ciocirlan on Unsplash

Do you have a lot of tomatoes growing in your garden? You can turn them into a delicious, easy meal by roasting them!

1. Place cherry or small tomatoes on a sheet pan with chunks of onion and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a little salt and pepper, then roast for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, prepare linguine noodles, per package directions.

3. Place your veggies in a sauce pan and use an immersion blender to smooth them into a sauce (careful, they will be hot!)

4. Serve the linguine with roasted tomato sauce and add parmesan cheese as a garnish.