Monday 29 August

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It has taken me three days, but today I finish pruning the espalier apple trees. They vary in their fruitfulness; James Grieve is reliably prolific, but Kingston Black, a cider apple, only gives a few. What they lack in number, they make up for in their unusual russet tones. I don’t know if my amateur pruning has anything to do with the lack of fruit. I do find cutting limbs off apple trees nerve-wracking and a task never to be entered into without careful research.

On a positive note, I had given up hope of a quince crop (at least without scrumping from the Mill) but there are at least ten fruits looking well and happy at the top of the tree. I start dreaming about stewed quince and clotted cream almost immediately.

Tuesday 30 August

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There was a Guardian article about 31 small items that could make your life a tiny bit better. Lots of them passed me by entirely (tongs to get toast out of a toaster? Really?) but one of them caused the Incredible Vegetables website to crash and for there to be a rush on plants. It was, of course, Taunton Deane perennial kale. I happen to have a whole bed full of it but, given its such rave reviews, I take as many cuttings as I can.

Wednesday 31 August

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The first of many. A box of tulips is left on the doorstep. The first is the most exciting, from Jacques Amand. The extortionate outlay on historical tulips was tempered by being able to get a wholesale account for such a big order, but this sadly didn't cover my heart's desire, Absalon. I tracked them down and bought them anyway, and just closed my eyes when I clicked the button to buy. I blame Polly Nicholson for showing me that nothing else quite compares.

Thursday 1 September

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The turning of the year is paradoxically busy. There are plants coming out and there are plants going in. Both bronze fennel and echinops adore my soil and would cover the field if left to their own devices. I cut them down to make space for the hardy annuals going in and chip them before layering them on the compost heap. The chipper was a game changer for compost making and there is nothing more satisfying that good compost.

Friday 2 September

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Making the most of back-to-back biodynamic flower days. If yesterday was all about the hardy annuals, today was perennials. After my big plant buying extravaganza a few months ago, I let lots of the flowers go to seed to form stock for sowing this autumn. Peggy Sue achillea which I bought in bloom and is clearly not a Peggy Sue (which is scarlet) but a lovely coral-peach and I am very much hoping will bloom a similar colour to the parent plant. More globe artichokes for the carbon-rich stems and the gloriously edible heads. Red millet for the birds. The greenhouse is filling up. The cycle comes round again.

Sunday 4 September

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As I sit down to write this, I don't think I have set foot outside yet today. As soon as I saw the weather forecast, I earmarked this Sunday for a big autumn clean. Like a spring clean, only better. All my glassware and vases have had a clean with vinegar and water, my frogs de-rusted (Niwaki ones don't rust, that's why I like them; I am a slattern at heart), the pantry is emptied and ready for jars of blackberry jelly, and there are pots of stock in the bottom oven, ready for squash soup. All I need now is a new pencil case and I am good for anything.