It's all looking distinctly autumnal at the plot now. All the newts and toads have upped sticks and moved from the pond, as I discovered this weekend when everything I moved had a toad or newt under it! For this reason, at the top of the plot behind the shed, we've constructed a wildlife zone so they've got a safe haven over the winter which guarantees that they'll return in spring to feast on slugs and snails - a more than welcome activity round these parts! This basically consists of a pile of twigs and wood (imagine a bonfire that's never going to be burnt) where the animals seem to be happy and which offers a great way of getting rid of tough twigs and branches that will take ages to compost. We've also got a selection of hidey holes for ladybirds and other little bugs all over the plot - this can be as simple as leaving a few canes stuck in the ground which ladybirds love to crawl into for winter shelter.
In front raspberries you can just see the rye grass coming through that I planted as a green manure. It's growing apace at the moment and is one of the most vividly green plants that I've ever seen. The other manures I planted all seem to be doing well and I've just got a couple more that I need to get in at the weekend before the weather gets too cold for the seeds to germinate.
As the evenings start to get darker my colleagues at work and friends have started to moan about what an awful time of year winter can be. This is particularly true for me as working in a basement with very few windows means that in winter I often feel like I haven't seen daylight for days on end, but I have to confess I can't share their sentiments. I don't know if it's true for other people out there, but one of the great things I find about being a gardener and grower is that there's always something exciting on the horizon. If there aren't seeds to plant, there's veg to pick or bulbs to choose or beds to turn over... the list is endless. Gardening makes me feel so much more aware of the natural process of things, happy in the knowledge that cold, dark winter nights are the perfect preparation of the soil for warmer spring mornings when everything bursts back into life.
As the nights get longer and the leaves on the trees start falling there isn't much colour left on the plot. A few hardy calendula are still hanging in there and the nasturtiums will stick around until the first frost but for colour at this time of year the humble chard is hard to beat. This variety is called Bright Lights and the colour on the leaves has to be seen to be believed - the photo can't even do it justice. They come in vibrant reds, yellows, oranges and pinks and they're fairly hardy as well so, in our increasingly warm winters, they'll probably hold their own right until spring.
