Early Frost and Apple Picking.
Yesterday and today we have woken up to frost, Tim has had to scrape the car windows before he can go to work and everything is feeling very crisp and autumnal. Last year the first frost was on the 14th of October so it is over a month ‘early’ and to be honest we weren’t ready for it garden-wise, but luckily nothing seems damaged so far and with the weather forecast to get warmer again I am hoping that the remaining tomatoes and peppers will still ripen in the greenhouse.
Out in the veg patch most plants have finished their season now, I left the french bean pods to dry on the plant and have harvested plenty of speckled beans to plant in the spring, we are still digging potatoes and have a chicken-wire enclosure ready to fill with compostable materials over winter as well as the compost bins. Soon we will begin clearing, shredding, and burning the vegetation, then add manure to the ground so the garden can have a well deserved rest and recuperation for a few months.
A very satisfying job we did yesterday was to harvest the cooking apples from the big tree. With the help of a new apple picking device we could reach most of the fruit and have ended up with a box full ready for apple sauce, crumbles and other goodies. I have sorted the ones with bruises and blemishes to use first and will individually wrap the others in newspaper for storage in the shed so we have a handy supply for the next few weeks. I have also peeled, sliced and frozen some raw, which when defrosted are great for a quick apple sauce as the thawing process means they are already soft and ‘mush down’ perfectly when cooked. At the weekend we will pick the eating apples from the step-overs and store them in newspaper as well…although I don’t think they will last that long as they are delish!
As September rolls on we will enjoy the sunflowers which still look amazing, I have been cutting the spent flower heads for drying so they can feed the birds over winter, I just lay them flat on the bird tables and they are pecked thoroughly. As the leaves turn on the spindle tree, autumn takes over the garden and it is beautiful, another satisfying year of growing draws to a close…and planning for next year begins!