The Gift of Abundance

September is a strange month. So often, as this year, it begins with the promise of endless warmth only to change its mind mid-way and shift abruptly into the cool, damp days of autumn. It has an air of melancholy about it: grieving the loss of summer and filled with foreboding for the harsh months to come. Yet, like a capricious god, it takes pity and leaves us the gift of abundance.

Even while so many plants and trees are retreating and paling into their autumn hues, the garden is filled with produce. Apples continue to ripen and grow as do squashes and corn and spinach and chard. The exuberant rocket carries on colonising every inch of earth not already taken and there are still raspberries and tiny, wild strawberries to be had. This month’s generosity always makes me glad. Despite the fact that the supermarket has everything I need, some primal part of me loves to see the harvest in and to preserve as much of it as I can for the rest of the year.

Apples

Like last year, I am awash with apples. (My beautiful crop of pears were all eaten by the squirrels.) I’ve picked all the eaters. What aren’t consumed are being dried for snacking. My cookers continually drop from the tree. I seldom pick them, since I can scarcely keep up with the ones I have. Two trugfuls have been prepared and stewed and put in the freezer. Several more await the same fate, but I must also get on with my apple vinegar and perhaps some fruit leathers.

Greens

Managing my greens has also become a race against time. It goes against every fibre of my being to waste them, yet there is a limit to how much one can eat. Both the spinach and rainbow chard have become like plants from the Jurrassic period – positively gargantuan. A trug of spinach is cooked and frozen and much more needs to be attended to. Unlike supermarket vegetables, they need a lot of washing and inspecting for tiny snails. I do not care for any extra protein.

Rocket does exactly what its name suggests and bursts through everywhere. (We’ve even found some in the front lawn!) But I love it and going to pick one’s salad is a real pleasure. As some of the rocket goes to seed, we are rewarded by their gorgeous flowers: a colourful addition to any salad giving a lovely, peppery hit.

The herb garden

My herb patch is looking a rather bare and forlorn at the moment. Something has eaten my lovely dill flowers and my mint has struggled in the dry weather. Sage, lavender, bay and rosemary continue unabashed and usually merge into next year’s crop. Since they are truly perennial, I need do nothing. What I have done is harvest my marjoram while the flowers are still pretty. It dries really well and once truly desiccated will be stripped from the stems and stored in jars. It makes a delightful herb addition to so many dishes and the hints of purple flowers always makes me smile.

This year, I have also dried mint and lemon balm to make tea. Let’s hope that it tastes as good as it smells.

Soft fruits

Unlike those superb gardeners who have bushes groaning with soft fruits, my attempts are rather more amateur. Just as my very healthy crop of blackcurrants ripened perfectly, they were decimated by pigeons or squirrels or both! My gooseberries made no effort at all. My raspberries have been a joy though. There are never many fruits – but enough for a little snack and added sustenance as I try (and fail) to get rid of the omnipresent bindweed. My tiny, wild strawberries are doing well too and I love searching for the fairy-sized fruits, which though tiny, are packed with flavour. I am hoping they will spread like the rocket – with sweeter results!

Looking ahead

With the days shortening, it is time to look ahead to planning next year’s garden. After our new fence was installed, I realised that the bed adjoining it is going to need some attention. Tall blooms like foxglove, hollyhocks and wall flowers are planned. Perhaps I will think of some slender shrubs (it’s a very narrow bed) to join them.

Despite the ravages of the hungry birds, the sunflowers gave me plenty seed for next year. Though on a friend’s advice, I shall plant them out the front to nod amiably at the passers-by.

The vegetables will need to be rotated and those that failed to thrive supplanted by the ones more forgiving of my inexpert gardening. The fruit bushes will need pruning and the fruit trees given a little tidying. But these are jobs for another day. Today, I made a spiced apple cake (thank you Lys for the brilliant recipe) and put a few more apples to good use. I plan to make more as we move into darker, colder days. And what better way to celebrate the bounty of September than in cake?