Listen! the wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves. We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves. ~Humbert Wolfe, P.L.M.: Peoples, Landfalls, Mountains, 1936
Well the wind has definitely been rising and it’s been whistling through the garden this week. But what a lovely sunny day we had weeding in the garden on Wed. It was like summer again. I found myself sunbathing on our bench and looking round the garden as though I was a visitor. Wetter weather now though.
The winds have been blowing yellowing leaves off the trees and shrubs. If you notice fallen leaves in the garden can you pick them up and put them behind Bugingham Palace. They will be great for our overwintering insects and creatures. There’s always the chance that a hedgehog might want to spend the winter there too.
I’ve been planting by the moon again and this time it’s the below ground planting. So it’s been the garlic and red onions into the veg containers this week. And we’ve carried on with planting more spring bulbs. Mainly daffs, tulips and crocus. Only the bulbs got mixed up over the summer so we are having to guess. It could make an interesting spring!
We are having problems with our containers of cabbages. One container has had something eat big chunks out of them all. I can’t see any caterpillars though. The other container has cabbages covered in whitefly. I’ve washed all the leaves in soapy water, which seems to have helped. I’m relying on the wind and rain now to blow them away. Vacuuming them off has been suggested, but I think my cleaner nozzle is too big.
I’ve been thinking about what to do with our red and yellow chillies. So I’ve frozen a few. But then someone suggested making chilli oil by seeping our chillies in olive oil. So that’s what I’ve done. But I got a bit carried away. I’ve used chillies, rosemary and lemongrass from the garden. Along with some garlic that I bought. Next year we could use our own garlic.
Does anyone reading this want to have a go at topiary? We have been donated something that needs to be shaped as a peacock. If you fancy having a go at training it let us know via the website. It will be a long term project to get it to be something recognisable, I think.
The Blooming Old Gardener