peas,beans and autumn leaves

have been tidying up the garden ready for winter and sowing Aquadulce broad beans and Feltham First peas but getting distracted by the wonderful colours of autumn leaves.

digging

got a lot of the garden dug yesterday ready for sowing peas and broad beans. spread the big bin (220 litres) of compost over it all and today the rain is helping spread it in. also picked up more horse manure last night to top up the bins.
this is the first real rain we've had in over a month. August was damp, September was very dry. the bare ground in the veg patch was starting to crack from being so dry and beetroot and radishes were running to seed. it was beginning to drop quite cold at night ( forecast of 6 degrees) - should be warmer with some rain

picked this week

MORE cucumbers - particularly the Crystal Lemon type which are fruiting better now than all summer, some runner beans - more this week than last, beetroot, rocket, rhubarb - probably the last of it, have taken the red chillies off of the plants to dry them.

cabbages

a variety of small cabbages for spring growing in the sten-house - Offenham Flower of Spring, Spring Hero and Advantage- and a row of winter cabbages that was planted close in by the felthan first pea row.

berries

pyracantha

cotoneaster

do lots of berries mean another cold winter?

flowers in October

verbena bonariensis and michaelmas daisies

kaffir lilies

love-in-a-mist

gaura lindheimerei and kaffir lilies

outdoor fuchsia

michaelmas daisies

a very late flowering oriental poppy

nasturtiums

chillies

have been picking the chillies and stringing them up to dry. the plants are back indoors now and still have some green fruits which may ripen.