A busy week

Now that it's September some of my interest groups have begun again and my diary is filling up. I've also been busy in the house where I've been doing a bit of a makeover in one of the bedrooms with a change in the soft furnishings and bed linen. I've bought bedding, curtains, blinds for this bedroom.

Meanwhile, my husband has been slowly lifting potatoes and other root vegetables ready to store them.  This is a slow process because of the changeable weather and a back and hip problem which has recently got worse.  So far he's been digging up the potatoes a row or two at a time.  We've got lots of chilis, F1 Cheyenne and De Cayenne this year which I'm going to freeze.

These white onions, Globo, grown from seed, have been spread out to dry before they're stored in hanging bunches.

  

Our three-year old pear tree has produced about twenty pears.  We have had strong winds and the heavy pears are in danger of falling before they ripen. We've had more wet and windy days than sunny ones so the ripening process is slow going. I've bottled some plum tomatoes San Marzano  and I'm observing these Tigerella (Mr. Stripey) with interest as I thought it would be a different variety to try this year. My husband tends to grow the same tried and tested varieties of vegetables every year and, of course, is always planning ahead and collecting or buying seeds.

When we were down in Berkshire we went to a big Italian Continental store and bought a few more packets of seeds.  This old, established family-owned specialist store is one of the biggest in the area and is also a wholesale market for the local shops and restaurants.  We've been going to it ever since we were married when Italian products were not so easily obtained in regular stores and my husband used to get his boxes of grapes there to make his wine.  

Since we were there last the store has expanded.  There's a new fresco painting on the ceiling of the entrance and my recent banners have shown details of it.

It now seems like a while ago since we were eating al fresco on a sunny day in our daughter's garden with a lunch of olive bread, black olives, salami and prosciutto, and mozzarella from the Italian store and sipping my husband's home made rose wine.  We also had a selection of Derbyshire cheeses from our day out in Bakewell when our daughter came to stay and we all bought some cheese from the Monday Market. There was Sage Derby and others with basil pesto or chili peppers.

On the other hand the season has moved on and we can start harvesting more of our produce and use in one pot meals in these chillier days.

The Annual Garden Show

Garden Shows are being held at this time

of the year organised by local garden associations

where gardeners can submit their produce 

to be judged as best in show.  There are different

categories so plenty of opportunity to be a successful winner.

As well as the vegetable categories there were

those for flowers, fruit, preserves, baking and

crafts as well as flower arranging and photography.

I admired the flower arranging exhibits.

It's a skill that I would love to learn

along with mastering knitting patterns.

So little time....

Baking is more my thing.

I'm not sure whether I would like to

have my cakes officially judged.

 The local school children received awards

for the herbs they had grown and for the

garden related pictures and samples

of felt butterfly pin cushions they had sewn

and decorated which was a small part

of a learning-through-activity project,

which is ongoing through the seasons.

Of course, a late Summer garden show

is not complete without the judging of the largest

sunflower head and the ceremony of handing out

the trophies, a cup of tea and home-made cake and chat

about gardening matters.

A sunny September day

Sunshine and blue skies!

Monday morning and good weather!

Good weather means work in the garden,

but firstly a look around to see how 

everything is doing.

The black figs are slowly ripening.

The little plastic greenhouse has become

a useful addition to the garden.

Some dahlias have started to bloom.

I love the colours of September 

and blue skies are an extra gift.

We went to the allotment to collect more produce.

Gathering seeds for next year is another task.

There's usually something to do in the garden and allotment.

After the rain, the sun...

  We've had rain, rain and more rain this week

  until Friday when the weather changed again.

  September is here and it does seem as if 

     the Summer is over and we have to be prepared for

      the colder days of Autumn in the UK.

     We're glad of the covered yard which throws out heat

from the brick walls and is an extra place to sit, 

       to grow vegetables and is also Gino's domain.

It's also good to be able to use the vegetables

growing there just outside the kitchen door.

We've also had some black figs from the tree

in the back garden and my husband has dug up some

 of the potatoes from the allotment and stored 

them in the garage.