Autumn Vibes

As I’m writing this it's feeling well and truly Autumnal outside now. The days are getting shorter, the leaves are starting to brown, it feels like Pumpkin season in the air and a kind of nesting mood is setting in. Autumn is my favourite season of the year and has always been so, which may once have been due to do with it being my birthday in October but now, it’s more about an appreciation of the richness of colours in Autumn. Granted, it can be a month of variable weather but for some reason I do have memories as a child of cerulean blue skies adorned with fluffy clouds, contrasted with crunchy burnt orange leaves and bright shiny conkers of Autumn. 

A couple of years ago I was visiting family in October half term and we went to a local farm to choose a pumpkin but also to go apple picking which was brilliant fun. The apple picking site was across the road from the pumpkin but which was packed but we almost had the apple orchard to ourselves, as everyone was there for the pumpkins. We picked the most delicious apples, think Honeycrisp variety was voted the favourite one we tried. 

Of course the fading daylight at this time of year does not suit everyone and I know some people who find this time of year to be extremely difficult. If it is a serious concern then reaching out for help is always a good idea. We’ve got a Lumie alarm clock that simulates a natural sunrise which can really help with darker mornings. Also taking a bit of time to look after yourself is always a good idea. Going out for walks to get Vitamin D, being in nature, doing some gardening, pampering sessions etc are always good. Also we’ve recently started to cook and eat more healthy comfort food that was too hot to cook in the Summertime. We've been cooking up nice warming lentil dahls and more spicy foods, stews and soups. 

Our garden has really started to change and is looking kind of rustic at the moment! It was always our aim to extend the seasons as much as possible and we still have work to do with this but it has improved compared with last year. The only thing is, that we have had zero dahlias to rely on as the slugs and snails ate the lot! They also robbed us of quite a few sunflowers and most of our runner beans! It has been a bad year for them as it’s been so wet but there are a few plants that have pulled through and that they don’t touch, such as hardy geraniums, grasses (looking their best right now), cirsium and of course asters which are so good and probably my favourite autumn plant. Aster Monch Frikartii is my favourite variety, it’s been around since 1919, doesn’t get touched by molluscs (at least in our garden), flowers for months on end and bees and other pollinators adore it! Another revelation for us has been our Wisley Crabapple. It flowered beautifully in the spring, and has produced the most amazingly huge red crabapples! We don’t have tons of them in number but what we do have, look very appetizing but probably taste awful unfortunately! We just need to wait for the edible apple trees to hurry up and start producing fruit now.

More time indoors means more time catching up on stuff indoors. As well as all the practical stuff we need to do there are some cracking Autumn TV shows and of course new book releases coming up! We just finished watching Vigil which we thought was good and the BBC coverage for the first ever September RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Though the show itself seemed a bit smaller this year there were some brilliant gardens and exhibits. We hope to visit the new RHS garden in Salford, RHS Bridgewater as soon as we can, as it looks stunning. 

Anyway the next few months look set to be a very busy time for us. Am sure it will be for everyone, as Christmas is just around the corner!