Autumn Comes To The Garden

Whilst I was away gallivanting in Chester over the weekend Autumn has stolen into the walled garden. There was a hard frost Friday night which saw the rest of the team scrambling to harvest the remaining fruits and tender veg. When I arrived back yesterday morning the greenhouse looked very bare without its jewel like adornment of ruby tomatoes, in their place sat the crown prince squash looking fat and glaucous promising sweetness for stews and soups over the winter. The dahlia stems have started to blacken and that signals the start of the cutting back season it doesn't really make for riveting narration, so in the weeks to come I'll try and keep my eyes peeled for unusual fungi and small critter sightings to amuse you with instead.

"Autumn, the years last and loveliest smile"
William Cullen Bryant

Testing Times

This weeks examples for discussion and committing to memory

Week five of the practical RHS2 course at Harlow Carr finds us really getting down to the nitty gritty. Today we were tested on the reasons for taking soil samples, all the plant specimens we have seen so far and then given another dozen to identify and learn. Jo has given us fair warning that she could ask us the names of any plants she has brought in so far, at any time throughout the year, so we'd better know our stuff! Couple that with the mountain of paperwork and our boots and gloves that we must have for every lesson, plus whatever cuttings we may do to take home (Buxus sempervirens and Plectranthus coleiodes this week), and you can see we are getting fairly loaded down already. It takes an astonishing amount of time to research just one plant, why it is called as it is, where it comes from, its ideal conditions and what makes it memorable etc etc, and to think I thought this year would be an easier ride!
PS Having a cheeky weekend off so no P&C for a couple of days!

The Party

It was Sir James's birthday yesterday and we had been told to expect a party, so when we arrived at work in the morning we set to and cleaned up the orangery. A good sweep through and some balloons and streamers soon set the tone. Everyone signed the card, including Shandy with a neat muddy paw print and then all we had to do was work until lunchtime. There followed an unexpected twist to the celebration when Sir James presented me with my end of training certificate, then we all sat down to tuck into buns with either 'James' or 'Alison' iced on the top and a cheeky lunchtime larger! Very kind of the Grahams. it is a pleasure to work for such lovely people. Meanwhile in the vegetable garden some of the small creatures had been having a party of their own, each and every ripe cob of corn has been devoured by the pesky mice!

"Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we may as well dance" Anon

Not much left for us humans!

Harvest Home

October is a mellow time within the walled garden, the hard work and promise contained in each seedling has now come to fruition. Although not a great year for fruit, our apple trees have not produced enough of a crop for us to sell for juicing, the pears are ripening nicely and even the young vines have managed to grow a few grapes despite the lack of sunshine. At the end of every working day we gardeners are allowed to reap the rewards of our work and help ourselves to whatever is ripe or in the case of flowers that which is most beautiful. There is a bumper harvest of juicy sweetcorn now but that is best picked on the day you wish to use it, whereas many of the other crops will sit happily in the ground now until required through the winter. We are all waiting for the first frosts to sweeten the parsnips and begin to heart up the cabbages but there is plenty of variety to choose from while we wait. Yesterday I left for home with a bunch of our fabulous dahlias and a bag bulging with plum and cherry tomatoes, October is the best month to be a gardener!

"For man autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad" Edwin Way Teale

Student Perks

It was a bit of an early start at 5.45am yesterday morning but I had to catch an early train in order to rendezvous with my lift to Skipton. We left Headingley in brilliant sunshine only to descend into thick mist as we headed into the Dales where our unheated porta-cabin classroom awaited us. Why do people always assume us gardeners can adjust to any temperature range? Luckily I needn't have worried, the sun burnt off the fret just as we made our way outside to take soil samples. Soil testing is the first of the 'must do' activities and we shall be tested on the theory behind it next lesson. The highlight of the day for me, and certainly worth the journey, was being issued with my student card, this means I can claim discount in many high-street stores for a whole year, it made me feel very young again at 44!

"You are as young as you feel. If you begin to feel the warmth of your soul, there will be a youthfulness in you that no one will be able to take away from you" John O'Donohue

A Moment In Time

We resumed the renovation of the clock tower garden yesterday, mercifully in more clement weather than last Monday. It really is starting to look like a proper garden again with neat edging, new shrubs and all the debris cleared away. It was a good way to start the month with Nikki back working with us for the winter, and our first bonfire of the season. I love a good blaze but must remember not to get too close and burn my eyelashes off again this year! Sir James must have been impressed by our efforts because he invited us to take a look around the clock tower itself. It's always a pleasure to explore another unseen historic building at Norton Conyers and as you can see from the photos this one  is especially atmospheric. Giles reckons it is the only building on the estate in which he has heard unexplained footsteps behind him! So with bonfires and ghosts a very apt way to introduce October.

" Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, we have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!" Humbert Wolfe

The Anniversary

It was a breezy but thankfully bright morning on Saturday after the wash out of the early week, so whilst we waited for the grass to dry out for mowing, we gave the lavender bushes their annual trim. It was pleasant grasping handfuls of the seed heads as the essential oils were released wafting that distinctive English aroma over us. Whilst we methodically worked our way through the bushes I realised that I've been working at Norton Conyers for a whole year now, a year of good and bad weather, hard work, satisfaction and many many beautiful plants and flowers. I'm privileged to be able to continue working there and to help to contribute towards the life and history of the garden.

"Ladies fair, I bring you lavender with spikes of blue, sweeter plant was never found growing on our English ground" Caryl Battersby

Nerine bowdenii enjoying the autumn sunshine