peaches

harvesting the peaches today - all two of them. have moved the tree out of its pot and planted it out under the kitchen window in what is hopefully a warm spot - maybe next year there'll be more fruit

apples

taking apples off of the tree today. have had some quite brisk wind this week and want to pick the apples before they fall. this years apples seem larger, better shaped and have less insect damage.

seeds again

sown winter onion seed today. this is not supposed to be transplanted or pricked out at all, so had trouble finding a spot where they could remain undisturbed till June next year - have set them by by the greenhouse where they should catch winter sun.

sowing again

setting flower seed today - lupins and christmas roses in the stenhouse, and oriental poppies, veronica and two types of foxglove- excelsior hybrid and summer king, though home collected seed - in a propagator in the greenhouse. It's not the normal time of year to sow perennial flowers but I find that it works well if the seedlings can be kept warm enough in the greenhouse over winter. Normally these would be set earlier in summer to have small plants able to be planted out now to next year's flowering positions but we have a much greater problem with slugs over summer and problems with keeping trays of small seedlings watered while we are on holiday. Sowing them now gives them time to germinate and grow into seedlings before any really cold weather, and, although they will most likely die back over winter, being in the greenhouse protects them from the worst of the weather and enables them to start growing earlier in spring.
have also set a tray of spinach for autumn/winter salads.

pumpkins

a couple of weeks of sunshine -at last- has really ripened the large pumpkin. It's now a bright, glowing orange, nearly ready to bring inside. the harvested green one has started to turn orange on the kitchen window sill. have 2 new smaller pumpkins growing well. this should make a bumper crop for us. hopefully they will keep till Halloween. all of these have come from either the seed or second generation seed of a Halloween pumpkin bought in Wells-next-the-Sea. 2 vines of red kabocha squash have only produced very small unripened yellow fruit -perhaps the weather hasn't been warm enough for them. all the other varieties sown haven't really grown well at all - the butternut squashes haven't got going at all and none of the others has any fruit.

picked this week

runner beans - not many, maybe a couple of meals-worth, lettuces that were running to seed, rocket, beetroot, carrots - all of them and they didn't make up enough for a meal, 3-4 courgettes

late summer flowers

nasturtiums

kaffir lilies

and rather early winter jasmine