the grim end of October

All the rubbish bits of October (rain, wind, mud traipsed into the house, perennially wet dogs, slugs under the winter leaves, dark dark mornings) and none of the highlights (crunching through leaves, lighting the fire, wearing gloves and my big tweed coat). It is wet and it is mild. Not my favourite conditions by any means but it does mean that I have an abundance of dahlias still and, you’ll never believe, sweet peas still. Suzy Z (or Susy Z, depending whom you ask) has been amazing this year and I have managed to source some for the Christmas sweet pea shop… I got my first packet on the recommendation of Milli Proust and she was absolutely right.

So beautiful.

Dahlias coming out of my ears. All the dinner plates have been left to set seed (see here) but they are still looking glorious. All the more for being speckled with rain. The anemones in the trough by the back door benefitted greatly from the compost I added and are now flowering, if not in abundance, at least enough to justify their placement in such a prominent position.

Japanese anemone

The kitchen garden is steadily abundant. With care and planning, I will be able to keep the chard and the beetroot going for much of the winter and I have planted up pots and pots of winter leaves in the greenhouse. I am increasingly only buying organic produce and avoiding supermarkets wherever I can. This is not practical for me to do all the time but if you are anywhere near Axminister, you can get as many beautiful pumpkins at Millers Farm shop as you can carry. I stocked up on Crown Prince but I did also manage to dig out a few more potimarron to supplement my own stocks. Turks Turban strongly avoided; I’ll never get over the disappointment of my first roasted Turks Turban (wet flesh) and realising I had twenty five more to get through.

I await the turn of the beech trees as eagerly in autumn as I watch for the emergence of the first of any flowers in the spring. The viburnum has beat the beech to it and is glowing red, but there are one or two beeches in the hedge that have started to turn golden.