The yearly cycle has partially rotated, with the season quietly passing from long hot summer into its autumnal phase. The signs are clear to see in the hedgerows – sloes, blackberries, haws, hips, bullaces, and hops, ivy flowers smothered in insects greedy for its abundant nectar. The photo above was taken yesterday down the lane by the bridge over the river that divides Essex and Suffolk. Both sides of the Stour the hedges are laced with hops at the moment, putting on a display unrivalled in my memory. Pick one and break it open to be wowed by its delicious aroma – grassy, citrussy, a little resinous pine, and a hint of spice…..fresh, and beautiful.

You may think that the weather has been unsettled of late, wet even. However, only 2mm was captured in my rain guage in the past week, so the aforementioned river has only a few inches of barely flowing water passing under the bridge, none (or barely any) of its tributary streams are feeding it to hasten its flow. It will take a lot of rain before the veins begin to start to gurgle and babble on the journey towards the main artery.

In the garden the summer crops are reflecting the change, with cucumbers virtually spent, tomato production and ripening stalling, and courgettes and beans looking tatty and tired. The plants are reacting to the rapidly reducing hours of daylight, deciding that they have done their job, which they did in the most extreme conditions. What I did manage to keep alive during the drought has been ravaged by nocturnal visitors. I haven’t harvested a single head of sweetcorn because the badger flattened every stem to access the sweet and starchy cobs, leaving me with nothing. Voles are nibbling the skins of most of the winter squash before they are fully ripe in the field. However, I do have lettuce, radicchio and perpetual spinach growing under sheets of protective netting, so all is not lost.

In the propagating greenhouse I have seedlings and young plants of kale, spring cabbage, lettuce, Pak Choi, chard and spinach coming on at various rates of development. These will take the place of the soon to be replaced summer crops in the greenhouse and polytunnel. You have to be hard nosed about it, pulling up tomato plants that still have fruits ripening on the vines feels wrong, but the value of those stragglers, versus making use of the growing space for crops that will be productive all winter, is relatively low, so out they must come. And the window of opportunity for getting the overwintering things established is fairly narrow.

My week off wasn’t really. Well it was to some extent, but because we didn’t go away this year the lure of the garden proved to be too strong, so I spent rather more time there than I should have. Having said that a reasonable balance was achieved. I did quite a lot of tidying up in my garden at home, including a clear out in the shed and a trip to the council tip….very satisfying. We went out for breakfast one morning, and on Thursday afternoon we went canoeing from the Henny Swan near Sudbury. Because the schools were back we virtually had the river to ourselves, so it was very peaceful and relaxing. A drink afterwards in the pub garden, which goes to the edge of the water, was very pleasant. It is the same river that I mention before, but the 15 miles of meandering that it takes from where we live means that it is much larger and has more water in it. Nonetheless I was pleasantly surprised at just how high the level was. My time at the garden was mostly spent watering, harvesting, and picking apples. They are dropping fast this year so I was keen to get some picked to take for pressing. On Friday morning I took a van-full to have the juice extracted. I am hoping to have the bottled juice within the next week or two….exciting eh?

If any of you happened to look at the website last week you will have seen a photo of my resident hare. It was with me in the week before my break when I was in the orchard picking apples. It sits in the same spot every day, watching me go about my business, allowing me to get very close to it, seemingly without fear. Every so often it has a stretch, bimbles about a bit nibbling apples or grass, and then returns to its favourite spot. There it was again every day last week. It’s a leveret the size of a rabbit, so an adolescent I would say, and appears to be independent of its mother. Though I really shouldn’t I do need to name it, so any suggestions will be given due consideration. I haven’t a clue whether it is male or female, so bear that in mind when arriving at your moniker. As it resides in the orchard it could be Bramley or Russet? Maybe not Adam’s Pearmain or D’Arcy Spice though.

The shelves of the shop have been restocked, and on them you will find broccoli, pointed cabbage, perpetual spinach, French beans, courgettes, patty pan squash, oakleaf lettuce, short cucumbers, leeks, tomatoes, mushrooms, red peppers, onions, beetroot and carrots. There are eating and cooking apples and Verdelli lemons. In the week before my break I bought some melons, I would be interested to know what they were like. Your feedback will determine whether or not I buy any more.

A sadness associated with the change of season hit me early last week on an evening dog walk. I looked up to see a large flock of Swallows heading south, and it really affected me. I stood for a moment and waved them on their way, calling out “go well” as they disappeared into the far distance. Their presence all summer is a source of great joy, and I look forward to the thrill of seeing the first of them return next spring. And so turns the cycle of life.

Deliveries are back to normal this week and I will be back at Wyken next Saturday. Have a great week.

Phil