Spotted Coralroot / Corallorhiza maculata

Took this photo of a tiny, wild orchid three days ago, on 3 July 2015, when four of us were lucky enough to visit and botanize the farm belonging to Meghan Vesey and Kwesi Haizel. This 53 acre farm, Akesi Farm, is a 90 minute drive from downtown Calgary and is near the town of Sundre, NW of Calgary. It is permaculture based with future crops of eggs, mushrooms, fruits and nuts. Hard to believe that this beautiful place has only belonged to this young, hardworking, enthusiastic couple since November 2014. A tremendous amount of work, thought and planning has already gone into adding to what was already there, with a little help from family and friends.

Meghan walked with us to show us the different parts of the acreage - forest and grassland. We found this Spotted Coralroot and also Striped Coralroot - two lovely (small) wild orchids. Everything seen was listed, including plants, birds, fungi, insects, animals and so on. This list will then be given to Meghan and Kwesi, along with any photos taken while we were there for the day. We are always happy to visit someone's land and compile a very detailed list of our findings for them. It's always a win/win situation - we enjoy what we are doing and love to explore a new location, and the owner ends up with a record of what was found on their property.

The weather was beautiful, though still much too hot for me. Having been out on several outdoor trips recently in very hot weather, as well as being home in a place that felt like an oven, I really was not feeling all that great and perhaps did a bit too much walking.

I do have to also mention that we had the company of their three gorgeous dogs, and one cat. The latter followed us when we were walking around one of the ponds near the house, obviously hunting for "something". At one point, she disappeared a short way up one of the trees, only to come flying out of a few seconds later. Judging by her behaviour afterwards, I suspected she had been stung in the eye by one of the bees and, sure enough, that's what had happened, poor thing.

We were treated royally when we sat down outside to thoroughly enjoy and appreciate a delicious lunch of different salads and goodies - and cold lemonade that was more than welcome! Thank you so much, Meghan, Kwesi and Meghan's mother, Maurita, for all the work you put into preparing this feast for us - most generous! We all wish you the very best with your endeavours. With such hard work and obvious enthusiasm, I'm sure you will do well.

On the way back to Calgary, we stopped and walked down to the Elkton Bog. I had been there before, maybe a couple of times. We wanted to see how wet or dry the area was, at the same time seeing a few plants including carnivorous Sundew and Cotton Grass. This walk on extremely uneven ground (and wet in many places) finished me off for the day - I was utterly, totally, completely exhausted!!