Last week was a mixed weather week. We had days of steady rain and days when the sun made an appearance. This woodpigeon was making the most of the sunshine after it had been busily preening. It’s fluffed up feathers is a sign that the sun has lost some of its warmth.
At the allotment, I actually did some planting. We had some small brocolli and cauliflower plants in the greenhouse which we decided to plant out. They are very small and I know it’s late to be planting them but there are two chances as to whether or not they grow. The brassicas planted at a more optimum time failed as the roots were eaten.
The rain meant that, Martyn was able to dig over a couple of beds. The plan was to then cover the beds with weed control fabric but at that point we found that our pile of carefully folded and hidden fabric has been stolen. Someone must have been snooping around our plot to notice it. What sort of person steals weed control fabric? Now we need to buy more.
The garlic is growing well – every clove has sprouted. Fingers crossed for a better harvest next year
The autumn planted onions are just beginning to shoot.
All the carrots have now been lifted – we have had a good harvest this year and we will have plenty of carrots to share. We tried some yellow carrots this year but they didn’t taste as carroty as the orange ones although still better than shop-bought carrots.
We also lifted all the beetroot. I twisted off the tops before taking the roots home.
Martyn picked another bucketful of quinces. This has made up for our lack of apples this year.
I’m still picking dahlias but probably for not much longer. The flowers don’t last as long once in the house. Maybe they suffer from shock coming out of the cold into the warmth of the house.
We didn’t have much success with peppers this year but the few small fruits that did grow were sliced and popped into the freezer.
Last week’s day out was to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens. This property has a three paws rating meaning dogs are welcome in all parts of the property. They even have a dog-friendly area in the restaurant. Not only did Ruby get the third stamp on her passport but she was given a treat at the reception desk.
As we made our way towards the abbey, I noticed that the trees were definitely looking autumnal.
We made our way past the abbey and walked around the water garden. As always pheasants provided a soundtrack to our walk.
We exited Studley Royal through the lower entrance.
Here, a flock of Canada geese probably outnumbered the ever-present pheasants.
Once away from the water garden we found a quiet area where Ruby could enjoy a game of chase.
After the game, we headed for Seven Bridges Valley Deer Park.
This takes its name from the picturesque stone bridges along the pathway. Although we have seen and heard deer on a past visit, we didn’t see any this time.
After a walk in the deer park, we headed back to Studley Royal.
We headed back through the water gardens towards Fountains Abbey and spent time exploring the abbey before heading back to the car.
Finally, a couple of last week’s meals.
I made a turkey dish that used our onion, red pepper and sweetcorn.
One of our Musquee de Provence squash along with green beans and red peppers were used in a vegetable curry.
That’s all for this week so as usual until next time, stay well, stay safe and stay warm.
I’m linking to Harvest Monday at Dave’s Our Happy Acres blog.
