🌱 Weekly Gardening Summary

September 26th to October 2nd, 2026

🌤️ Weather Overview

The week brought some lovely late-September and early-October weather, with several warm, sunny afternoons and temperatures reaching 22.9°C on Wednesday 30th. Overnight temperatures remained fairly mild, ranging from 6.4°C to 13.1°C.

Rainfall was generally very limited. There were a few small amounts of rain and drizzle, but the ground remained very dry, particularly around the new borders and side border. Despite the lack of significant rainfall, some areas felt surprisingly damp following the light drizzle on Tuesday.

Overall, it was a mild and mostly dry week, providing some good opportunities to continue the autumn clear-up and preparation work.

🌿 Key Activities & Observations

The main focus this week was continuing with autumn preparation and tidying.

We started top-dressing the new borders, with both borders receiving a good watering. Sue completed the top dressing on Friday and watered the borders again.

The brassicas in the raised bed and recycling crates were given a good watering and continue to grow well.

At the allotment, the bed on plots 28/29, which had contained last year’s overwintered onions and salad crops, was dug over. The remaining runner bean plants were pulled up, and the poles were stored away for winter. Some of the poles will need replacing next year.

Sue also painted the front of the allotment shed, table and seat, giving the area a useful autumn spruce-up.

Back at home, more work was carried out on the side border. The soil has been broken up, although it is still very dry and will need digging over properly once we get some worthwhile rain.

A nice sign of new growth was spotted when we noticed that the garlic Sue planted last week has already sprouted.

Work also continued around the magnolia tree, with more cleaning and tidying carried out underneath and around it.

🐕 Trips Out with Ruby & Other Visits

Ruby enjoyed several walks this week.

We visited Temple Newsam on Monday afternoon, where we enjoyed a lovely warm and sunny late-September walk. There was plenty of work taking place in the gardens, so it will be interesting to see how they develop over the coming months.

On Wednesday, Ruby had two walks at Springhead Park, making the most of another pleasant afternoon.

Thursday brought a walk at Nostell Priory, another enjoyable autumn outing.

With the mild weather continuing, it was a good week for getting out and about with Ruby while also keeping an eye on the changing gardens and parkland.

🧺 Weekly Harvest Totals

The harvest was relatively small this week as the focus moved towards autumn clear-up, but there were still some useful finds.

Chillies

• Buena Mulata — 12 chillies, picked for freezing

Tomatoes

• Oh Happy Day — 2 medium fruits
• Summerlast — 1 small punnet
• Additional tomatoes picked for salads and sandwiches

Courgettes

• Defender — 1, discovered while clearing the bed
• Tromboncino d’Albenga — 1, also discovered while clearing the bed

🍅 Harvest Highlights

It was particularly pleasing to discover two courgettes hiding in the bed while clearing it. The 12 Buena Mulata chillieswere also picked and put aside for freezing, adding to the supply for winter use.

🌱 Week in Summary

A productive week of autumn preparation and clearing up, with the new borders taking shape, the allotment beds being cleared and the runner beans finally put to bed for winter. The garlic has already started sprouting, while the brassicas continue to grow well.

The mild, mostly dry weather also gave us plenty of opportunities to enjoy some good walks with Ruby at Temple Newsam, Springhead Park and Nostell Priory.