By Christine Tailer
HCP Columnist

There are certainly wonders to fall and there are so many things to learn.

We’ve undoubtedly all heard that goldenrods, those large yellow wildflowers that bloom in late summer and into fall, are the main cause of hay fever. This is simply not the case. Goldenrod is not only beautiful, but beneficial.

Bees, butterflies and other pollinators are able to feed on the large, heavy pollen of goldenrod at a time when most other flowering plants have finished blooming for the year. All plants are pollinated in one of two ways, either by pollinators, like bees and butterflies, or by wind, and goldenrod pollen is simply too large and heavy to be carried by the wind.

Fall allergies called hay fever are actually caused by wind-pollinated plants and trees, such as maple, elm, oak, birch, timothy, orchard grass and ragweed, a large plant with green flowers that looks nothing like the beautiful goldenrod.

Our mothers probably also told us to put on our warm jackets and hats before going outside to play, and they probably told our own children the same thing, although many youngsters these days simply pull up their hoods to protect yourself from the cold. cold weather.

We have all heard that a head covering is an essential part of fall and winter clothing because if it is not worn, all body heat will escape through the top of the head . This is not entirely true. It is indeed important to wear a hat in cold weather, but no more heat escapes from the head than from any other part of the body. Heat simply escapes from our bare skin, wherever it is: head, hands, feet, arms or legs. So, the main thing is to hide everything.

This year, more than in previous years, we have heard that the summer drought will surely spoil the fall colors. That’s not entirely true either. A dry summer could very well cause trees to lose their leaves early. Without enough water drawn into the branches, leaves will wilt, turn brown and fall off, but it is not moisture that causes leaves to change color. Rather, it is the shortened daylight hours that cause the leaves that remain on the tree to change color.

Shorter fall days mean less sunlight, and it’s because of this lack of sunlight that the chlorophyll in leaves breaks down, and it’s the pigment that chlorophyll gives leaves their green color. Without this pigment, they turn to the yellows, oranges and reds we love. So even though the creek has been incredibly dry and many leaves have wilted and fallen early, the creek valley is still dressed in beautiful shades of yellow, burnt orange, and red.

I remember when my little brother and I went back to school in the fall, we would often catch the inevitable cold or fever, and our mother would recite the old adage “feed a cold, starve a fever.”

Alas, our dear mother was completely wrong. This saying dates back to a dictionary published by John Withals in 1574, in which it was noted that “fasting is a great remedy for fever.”

The reasoning, passed down for generations, was that the body needs food to generate heat to cure a cold, while avoiding food helps cool the body during a fever. We now know that calories provide the strength needed to fight off any disease and that fluids ensure that the body stays healthily hydrated. Therefore, chicken noodle soup provides both calories and hydration, and is good for both colds and fevers, as well as, perhaps, for our soul.

Persimmons grow in our neck of the woods, although oddly enough we haven’t found any here in the creek valley. If they did, I might be able to use the seeds to predict winter weather. When seeds are cut in half, they will display one of three symbols. Popular tradition tells us that a knife shape predicts a frosty, cold winter in which the wind will pierce us like a knife.

A fork shape, on the other hand, indicates a mild winter, while a spoon indicates that we will need our shovels to dig through deep snow. This myth obviously dates from a time when knives, forks, and spoons were all common cutlery, which was not the case until the 1800s.

As for the accuracy of persimmon seed prediction, this myth may oddly have some slight validity. The Jefferson County, Mo., Extension Office collected and cut persimmon seeds for 20 years and found that seed predictions were accurate about 75 percent of the time. Maybe our local meteorologists could try persimmon seeds, but either way, I know I’m never too old to learn.

There are certainly wonders in the change of seasons and there are so many things to learn.

Christine Tailer is an attorney and former city dweller who moved with her husband, Greg, to an off-the-grid farm in south-central Ohio several years ago. Visit them on the web at Straightcreekvalleyfarm.com.