Autumn is so beautiful - it's honestly my favourite season. Though I'm going to be super sad about less produce growing less fast, I love the colours at this time of year, and the tidy up ready for different plantings like potato and broad beans. We live in a temperate climate, so we can grow food all year round - beetroot, fennel, beans, swede, kale, broccoli all do well.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.

All month I've been following this routine: surf or swim whilst the water is still warm, hang my wetty on the garden gate to dry, and do a few hours in the garden before collapsing.

Some of the garden clean up jobs I've done in the last two weeks have been:

• chopped down an elder that was growing through a fence - I want jamie to take the stump out so it doesn't happen again.
• dug manure and straw into a garden bed
• pruned some of the grapevines which have got out of control
• pulled out the cucumber that's thankfully finished now
• pulled out the last of the tomatoes - green tomato relish, here we come!
• turned over the compost heap
• tidied up the chook shed

I also cut down the ashwagandwa which was also growing into a fence, and growing across a path. It had self seeded like crazy so I potted up the seedlings to plant elsewhere or to sell in the community along with white sage and rhubarb. I will chop up the roots to make powder as it's an incredible adaptogen. Has anyone done this before?

We've harvested most of the apples and removed the netting from the fruit trees. I was proud of myself for being right on it this year so the birds didn't get all the fruit. I should harvest the quince tomorrow if I'm home.

I also have a lot of mint to pull out to keep under control, and I should also harvest some horseradish to do something with as we have tons of it. I've deheaded all the garlic chives as the buggers self seed in cracks and are impossible to get out, but I lvoe them with my scrambled eggs so they'll stay.

I cant say I'm sick of zucchini yet, mainly because it's a good food source for free and goes in curries and rice dishes and everything in between. But damn I planted far too many cucumbers. I have tons of lemons I took to work which were snapped up - we just can't process that many and I've made tons of lime pickle already. I get limes and lemons all year around so I'm not that bothered.

I have just reminded myself, writing this post, that I always plant garlic at Easter. Last season I totally lost my entire crop with a black soot so I need to source and replenish my stock. Easier said than done - most people in town also lost theirs.

Sometimes gardening is hard work, and doesn't go the way it's meant to.

But I sure spend a lot of time doing it.

With Love,

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