These last few days have been very autumn-like around here, high winds, rain, cool evenings, but also quite a bit of sunshine in-between, a real feeling of autumn in the air.
While checking over the garden there is a lot to be seen that is going well. I even found a French bean plant in flower that I had all forgotten about, it has been growing in-between the profusely flowering sweet peas. The winter vegetables I planted out weeks ago are growing fast with all the rain they are getting, good to see this happening as I take the supplying of vegetables during the winter very seriously (and it’s fun).
And in-between the leeks there is yet another crop of young dandelions growing, the third crop this year so far!
The courgettes though, have not been doing so well, finally I will be able to harvest one, all the others rotted while still small. Then there is the rhubarb, this is a young plant, started off during the summer, and now being covered with the leaves of the silver birch tree that is towering above it. It promises to be a good rhubarb producer for next year, so the making of rhubarb jam will be on the agenda. During this summer there was very little fruit for sale at the market, probably due to the lack of sunshine there was little fruit around, but having said that, my sister-in-law had kilos upon kilos of strawberries in her garden, so I could be wrong. I do not have enough space to grow a lot of fruit that is why I like to buy it from organic local producers. Last year I made a lot of jam, we are still eating from it, this summer I made none.
The few flowering broccoli plants that were left over, once I got a handle on my slug control, did rather well, we ate some already. Today I found some caterpillars on one of the plants and removed them. No harm done.
The sprouts are starting to get too large to grow under the netting so I will have to remove that this week. I will also be harvesting beans and peas to dry for seeds. Then to mulch the soil with the leaves and branches that are left over as good for the soil.
There is other work to do too before the weather really gets bad (but I am actually expecting an Indian summer soon). I need to tie down the cold frame before I put the plastic back on, wind can get very high here and I don’t want to lose the frame. On Saturday market I will buy some more plants to go in there for the winter. I have plants ready, beetroots, to plant out too in another week or two.
And so the early autumn time is still busy, much is happening, love this time of the year too. Schools starting next week, my grandchildren are all getting ready for that. Almost unused garden furniture is about to be stored for another winter. A few checks have to be made to secure and maintain other things in the garden, and birdhouses have to come out.
And I have a project inside the house to do and am slowly but surely getting ready for that (next real rainy day). Trying my hand on a bit of DIY. I like to be really self sufficient, but I have a good adviser in my partner, thank goodness for that.
Round courgette doing well first one after many flowers rotted from the rain.
Discovery of a French bean plant I thought had died, and seeds of the sweet peas appearing
Kale and more kale for this winter, and the rhubarb plant covered in birch leaves already falling.
Flowering broccoli and little visitors which I caught today, before too much damage was done.
Sprouts and leeks for the winter months doing well.
More kale growing fast at this stage, and the garden how it is beginning of autumn 2015
agoyvaerts 
Yes, it is a little autumnal here as well. Good luck with the DIY – I’ve been trying to get on with some over the summer but inevitable got sidetracked!
Hopefully, you will have lots of lovely winter produce after the courgette let down.
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Thanks Helen, yes it should all fall into place, for you too. Do you do DIY frequently then? For me it is about the first time.
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I’ve been doing DIY on and off since I got my house six years ago. Before that it was ad hoc in rented accommodation when it seemed easier for me to do it instead of getting the landlady in!
Anyway, good luck 🙂
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Cooler days and nights here as well but nothing lower than 45F. I am still harvesting summer squash, all sorts. Yesterday I gathered and processed 5 pounds of scallopini and today I harvested another 5 pounds. It is a good feeling to see all this food that will last all winter.
Like you I’m getting other things ready for winter- cleaning up the basement for potatoes and squash, doing a little house staining where the sun has bleached out the color, getting unused hoses out of the grass and rolled up. Lots to do.
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Nice to keep going along. Autumn gives you that feeling doesn’t it, of wanting to prepare for bad weather and cold. 🙂
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Your vegetable look wonderful. You will have lots of fresh produce to ear. My climate is so different. It is still in the 90’s here and if I did vegetables, now is the time for our second planting. I moved from a colder climate and it was difficult to learn how to garden, because autumn happens at a completely different time of the year.
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It must be a big adjustment to change climate like that, a whole lot of adjustments to make, it must be lovely too in that you can grow more, and have extra harvests.
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Looking good!
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Thank you 🙂
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Reblogged this on PermaReblogging.
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Very much appreciated 🙂
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Will your kale grow all winter like it does here? Are those caterpillars of butterflies? Ours will be the Swallowtail butterfly, but I haven’t seen them yet. We are sort of wondering if the wasps have been after them, but maybe it’s just too early. The wasps are very prolific this year.
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Hi, just had an initial look at your blog/website, how very interesting, will explore more later. Thanks for visiting mine. The kale will grow all winter, yes, here in West Cork in Ireland the climate is mild in the winter so we get away with that. About the caterpillars, the funny thing is that I did not look it up yesterday evening, I thought that it were the caterpillars of the little white butterfly that visits the brassicas plants. We have had very few insects this summer as it was cold and wet. The bird population is down also. Keeping my eye on that, I am growing as many flowering plants as possible for these wild creatures as I can. Very few bees also.
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You live in Ireland? County Cork? What a coincidence!! You have a city named Bandon there. Back in the 1800’s a man by the name of George Bennett ( he called himself Lord Bennett) visited our town of Averill, stayed and ended up renaming our town to “Bandon” because it reminded him so much of his hometown. The trouble is he brought a bunch of gorse plants with him. The gorse went crazy and is blamed for burning the town down in 1936. It turns out our climate is much like yours although these past few summers have been uncharacteristicly HOT. If you look at my website, search “Gorse” and you’ll see the post about it. I don’t dare look it up now as I’m on my iPhone which can lose everything from a missed keystroke. 😀
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I looked up your ‘Gorse’ page, very interesting and lovely photos. I left a comment on your page there for you.
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Everything looks great, Agnes! Is that Lancinato kale(dinosaur kale)? I love the way that looks. I have to stick to Scottish Curl because tiny green caterpillars devour my Dinosaur kale to bits
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The dark green kale is called Ragged Jack and is quite popular here. This type had been recommended to me, it is supposed to be a real good winter one.
I’m not sure of the name of the young kale plants Cynthia as bought them on the market and did not write down the name – hence I forgot.
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Lovely to take a look at your garden…very interesting.
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Thank you very much 🙂
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