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It's been a busy week alternating between garden, greenhouse and kitchen depending on the weather. Remaining beetroot and salsify harvested, onions and garlics planted, final tomatoes harvested and vines cut down; peas, broad beans and spring onions sown. Shredder has been working overtime & most of the leaf fall has been gathered into sacks to make leaf mould. We've picked half the apples, sorted and stored them, made several batches of pear jam and assorted chutneys. The winter kale we planted in August is ready to start harvesting, the cabbages are not far behind but still waiting for signs of cauliflowers to develop. Spring brassicas we planted towards the end of September are now well established. Raspberry canes still producing in quantities. All spring flowing bulbs planted. Much tidying and maintenance still to do. Next big project launched - polytunnel ordered.
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Early Autumn is the best time for my raspberries and this year they have been better than ever, and for once I've beaten the birds to them, so plenty to stir into my yoghurt or just enjoy fresh from the cane. The greenhouse tomato plants have finally started to succumb to the mould that has been affecting the aubergines for weeks. Fortunately they had already started to die back and most of the fruit had been harvested and eaten or processed into bottles, chutneys, jam and sauce. Despite the mould and the consequent reduction of yield we are still harvesting more aubergines than we can eat and today we processed a batch to preserve in oil. The apples and pears are delicious. Still plenty to pick and hopefully some will store until later in the year. First year of growing blueberries. Not many on the small bushes but they are plump, juicy and sweet.
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Spent the last few days doing maintenance around the garden, composting and planting spring flowering bulbs. Runner beans and greenhouse plants still producing large quantities although tomatoes are reaching the end. Picked first load of apples yesterday. Very different from last year when we had boxes full of windfall everyday. This year far fewer windfall and much larger fruit! Spent today making jam, chutney and pickling. Collection of jars is growing. Fridge and freezer will soon be full. Planning to try new fermenting jars tomorrow on the last of the summer cabbage.
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One of my favourite places in the garden is the little patch of woodland which used to be scruffy lawn. Now it is an area of assorted trees, leaf mould, pine needles, fallen twigs, lichen and dappled shade. I can't claim to have planned it. I planted the trees and then abandoned it for decades before clearing the brush and scrub strangling it from below. Now self set plants are spreading and the only problem is nettles. Spent the afternoon planting woodland bulbs. Hoping for a carpet of colour next spring.
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Yesterday the spring greens arrived, fortunately we had the bed already prepared and planting was the easy bit. To protect them from the garden pests and preditors we covered them with the ultra-fine mesh. It did a good job protecting the winter greens so we are hoping for similar with these. Today the spring bulbs arrived so busy tidying the border and thinning out the plants which spread nearly as fast as weeds to make way for some of the bulbs. Many will also go in pots. Lots of work for the weekend. In the greenhouse the black beauty aubergines are finally producing fruit. Much later than last year.
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Spent the last few days digging out old bean plants and harvesting the last of the potatoes and carrots - plus of course the routine of picking tomatoes which are still coming at a rate quicker than we can process them. Raspberries are in full swing and although we cut back on the number of canes to make space for blueberries and rhubarb we are still harvesting an average sized punnet every couple of days. Depite the earlier problems we now also have more aubergines than we can eat. We should have realised when we started growing our own fruit and veg that cullinary skills would be required.
