Last of the tomatoes as Autumn closes in

Tomorrow I'm thinking I will mainly be making pasta arrabiata sauce for freezing and green tomato chutney.

We had loads of cherry tomatoes out of the greenhouse from July onwards, a fair few of the middling sized ones, not so many of the beefsteak ones but I will sow them (even) earlier next year so they ripen before summer's end. Today, I've taken the day off to clear the plants away ready for winter and these are all the leftovers.

Cucumbers were a bust, I only got three or four thanks to red spider mite decimating the plants. I have a new strategy planned against them for next year.

Autumn makes me restless, if you look at my CV over my adult lifetime and I always change jobs between now and Christmas. Must be all the windy weather blowing the old summer away.

Getting chilli

Did you see what I did there, chilli instead of chilly? I have to admit it's well and truly autumn now. I spent Sunday clearing away most of the tomato plants from my greenhouse. These are the very last ones along with the first of the chilli peppers. It's years since I had a greenhouse and I confess I'd forgotton what a long growing season they need! The plants are still in the greenhouse, I'm hopeful I will get some more.

I was late sowing everything earlier in the year. With the amount of time we spent with my parents whilst my dad was so ill, gardening got little time assigned to it. 

I've also left the three Marmande plants in the hope that the tomatoes may still ripen, they're looking promising! 

Another thing that lost me time this year was stopping the blimmin' pigeons that kept pulling up seedlings and shredding leaves. I rigged up a complicated protection cage with plastic pots on the ends of canes and netting attached to the sides of the raised beds. It looked a mess and took so long to remove and replace it, I really lost heart with weeding and sowing in the vegetable plot and just got on with the landscaping of the rest of the garden.

As a solution to the pigeons MTM has made me these really great wire mesh cloches to protect my crops. They just lift on and off .... simples! The one above is finished, and is protecting a double row of newly sown broad beans (Aquadulce). The other three below are just awaiting the mesh to be added which I can do myself do next weekend.

I am rather nifty with a stapler gun, must be all those years I spent working in offices! 

Still summertime in my kitchen

Last cut flowers from my Calendula border. The variety was Art Shades, which produced quite tall plants. After some breezy days in August, they flopped about in drunken heaps, still flowering their hearts out. I should know better, I never stake plants, I am far too lazy; next year, I shall buy a packet of a shorter growing variety.

Falling over aside, they've still been lovely but this week, the foliage started to look a bit mildewed and so, even though they were still flowering well, they've been cleared out of the way and today, I've been mainly planting Narcissi tete a tete to replace them.

Daffodils don't look pretty in the bags, but they'll be lovely in the Springtime. I had hundreds of Tete a Tete in our garden at Little Barn, these are the first I have planted in our garden here. With Camassia, Cyclamen, bare rooted Wallflowers and Snowdrops on order waiting to arrive, it's time to admit Autumn is here.

Here ... have a kiss!

After days and days of cloudy dull and damp, drizzly rain, heavier rain and mizzle, finally we awake to a lovely clear autumn day. I had my breakfast this morning looking through the kitchen window and smiling at this lovely kiss in the sky that travellers to far away places left for me.

However, winter's breath is not far away ...

This was the first time frost has reached the roof of my beadmaking studio.

Seven degrees on my kiln as I turned it on is the coldest we've seen so far this season but the compensations are the lovely colour the beech has gone.

The willow hasn't quite finished shedding yet ... that's my excuse for not raking up the leaves and I'm sticking to it!

It's still autumn!

I had to wear my newly crocheted hat, scarf and mittens on Saturday when manning my stall! I usually wear woolly tights on the very coldest days but recent mild weather lulled me into thinking I wouldn't need them just yet. However, shortly after setting up I realised my legs were f-f-f-freezing! I went to Milletts and bought some long johns and put them on under my jeans in their changing rooms! Actually they don't call them long johns any more, they're thermal foundation garments ...! There you go then. They're extremely fetching in a kind of mad purple flower design but I don't care what I look like in them, they rescued me on Saturday and I'm very grateful.

Why the picture of this tree? This silver birch tree is in my front garden and it's my hero.

I took this pic about 10 days ago because it was one of the few ones around that still had leaves. All the time there are leaves on the trees, it's not winter yet.

I really like Autumn and try to hold onto it for as long as possible; despite all the gales recently, they haven't shifted the last few clinging onto my hero tree and so it's still Autumn :-)

I've not been blogging much the last few days because I am having something of a record on-line Christmas rush and have much to do to fulfil all the website and e-mail orders I have received and still do a few new items for my stall. Everyone should have received an acknowledgement and an indication of when to expect delivery.

I shall be temporarily shutting my on-line shop in a few days time until the new year so be sure to get any orders in now else I won't be able to finish everything in time for the big day!