Autumn colour

I never take home grown vegetables for granted. Lunch today was tomatoes, basil and mozarella. Just delicious and a surprise seeing as it’s mid October and basil ought to have expired long ago.

But I was hoovering up the beans in the potager and I came across a patch. The basil had been hiding under the zinnia.  And the tomatoes just never stop.

I’m going to save the seeds of my favourite tom.  I feel blessed as the tomatoes germinated as weeds in one of the vegetable beds and produced healthy sprawling plants. All without any help from me.

I do love a self service veg. But I’m being diverted from the story.

Take a look at the autumn colour of the virginia creeper on the wall of the potting shed.  Just glorious. I need to put up a ladder and climb onto the roof later this month. Some of the tendrils are snaking in the wrong direction. I’m trying to get them to cover the roof. But as there is little purchase on the slippery polycarbonate roof, I have to give them a hand.

The acers in the hedge are colouring brilliantly too.

I try not to linger too long up at the hedge as I see a monstrous weeding project ahead of me.

Right now I just tend to do a drive by shooting with my camera and turn to picking flowers and veg instead.

I have no idea why I’m reluctant to sit down and get on. The weather is perfect for weeding. Warm but cool. And no wind.

And if I position myself in the sunshine, Artur will come and join me.  He loves this time of year.

Here are the drying beans I have collected in the potager: we have a freezer full of the delicious dwarf French beans. I have left a few rows of the crop in the ground to let them ripen and then dry out.

I’ll pod them and store them and then plant them next spring.