Rain paused outside play… 

We’d set aside last weekend to dig up a heavily- weeded area and plant it with bulbs… but the rain was so heavy on Saturday that when we tried to go outside, the pup just sat miserably under a bush. As it was her birthday too, we felt that was a little too mean to stay out! 

So instead, we spent most of the day in the kitchen, cooking up the various fruits we’ve picked into jams, chutneys, hot sauce, cakes and infused liqueurs. I also convinced John to try making hawthorn ketchup from a recipe from a foraging facebook page – although it turned out more jelly-like than ketchup… Our plan is hopefully to sell these either to our guests or at a farmers’ market – once we’ve done our Basic Food Hygiene and allergy training first! 

We made a start on Sunday, but it didn’t take long before the rain started again. Typically (as I was on raking duty) it was just as I’d cleared a reasonable patch of the wood – now after winds and rain the last few days, it’s covered in leaves again. You can definitely tell Autumn has arrived!! 

It was a similar story the weekend before – although we were working in a more sheltered patch of the garden and the rain was lighter. The bank between us and our neighbours has been completely overgrown, which was even more noticeable when our neighbour cut down a huge pine tree that wobbled dangerously towards our house in the wind. So we’ve spent a bit of time removing all the brambles and nettles, and filled two large gaps with ferns to try and discourage the weeds from coming back – as well as providing some root structure to the soil. It should make a better view when sitting in the back garden now!