AUTUMN WEATHER BRINGS NEW HARVEST

As the transition from summer to autumn progressed, the garden produced a small harvest to feast on.

OK, so it wouldn’t exactly make a feast, but the tomatoes did eventually come along even if it was weeks after the strawberries and broad beans.

They tasted pretty good too, so maybe planting earlier next year might work better for an earlier harvest.

The newly acquired bat box will go up soon, although with the prevailing wind coming down both sides of the house, I might have to be careful in where it’s placed and also borrow some ladders from a neighbour.

While there are bats that fly around the garden, I’ll be quite surprised if they do make use of the roosting box this winter – but you never know!

The sunflowers were a big disappointment this year, with only my youngest daughter’s making it to full bloom.

It did make a remarkable recovery as it was eaten by slugs, but then remerged and produced two heads.

While it was my daughter’s, it was technically me that kept it fed and watered, so I’m going to claim a small part of the sunflower’s success.

Finally, there’s a good haul of berries on the pyracantha which I’m hoping might attract a passing fieldfare or redwing flock.

I’ve not seen any down the lane so far this year, but it is quite early, and I would expect to have chance of seeing a few later this month or into November.

Time will tell if there’s enough berries to attract them.

BIRDS A RARITY IN THE GARDEN

The nest boxes are empty and the garden is virtually free of birds, apart from the odd visit from fledglings and swooping swallows. 

One question that remains unanswered is whether the house sparrows have taken up residence in the blue tit nest box – which fledged eight chicks from eight eggs.

The camera to the nest box isn’t working properly again, so a view inside is proving difficult.

If the female is on eggs then it’ll be hard to tell as they normally are quite still most of the time.

It is likely to be another week before it is known if they are in there.

The garden itself had a good soaking of water for a while, but now it looks like a prolonged dry spell is on the cards, which means the new hosepipe will see some action!

All the plants, tomato, sunflower, broad bean and peppers are now in situ, and growing fast. If they get enough water then the tomatoes can hopefully make up for the poor harvest last year with a bumper one this year.
After all the sunflowers did very well last year and now, thanks to the slugs and snails, they’re likely to be fewer and shorter than 2016.

MANURE ANYONE?

This week the planning for next year is in full swing with lots of crops finishing the harvest and soil being turned over to increase the mixture and give the earthworms a winter job of regenerating the soil.

With lots of leaves about from the recent windy weather it’s a great chance to use them to cover the borders and give the earthworms a helping hand with a ready-made food bank.

My search for horse manure has been rewarded and over the next couple of weeks I’ll be collecting varying amounts to provide the garden with natural nutrients to help with growing plants next year.

I might even plant a few crocus and snowdrops so when spring arrives there will be a colourful scene in the garden while the days start getting longer.

Autumn is an amazing season with the low lying sun reflecting an enormous amount of colour from the ever changing leaves on trees and bushes.

The climbing plant in my garden has already shed its leaves – probably helped by the recent strong winds – but others are reluctant to start turning away from green at the moment.

I think the warm October temperatures (even at night) have led some to hang on for a while. Now we’re about to start November, the temperatures are starting to fall in line with normal conditions for this time for the year and I’m sure the green leaves will soon become a rainbow of reds, yellows, oranges and browns.

For the wildlife, the birds are not spending too much time in the garden, apart from the house sparrows who are gathering in larger groups for shelter and food in the rose hedge. The dunnocks have made a few appearances, but the robins and blackbirds are scarce.

I'll know the natural food supplies are low when the long tailed tits arrive to feed on the peanuts and fat snacks.

I’ll be clearing out the nestboxes soon and preparing them for any winter roosting birds, before they hopefully are claimed for nesting once again next year.

I have another camera nestbox so will try and hook it up to the sparrow nestbox in the hope they nest there again. Given there are three chambers in that nextbox and the camera will only cover one, I do wonder what the chances are of my successfully guessing which one will be used, if  any.

I’ll probably go with the one that was used this year and see what happens.

Right, must go and pick up that horse manure!

AUTUMN, WHAT AUTUMN?

Towards the end of August I watched as the swallows chattered excitedly on the telephone wires, probably sharing experiences of the migration to Africa with this year’s youngsters.

This year I counted over 30 which is almost double the amount I counted in 2010, obviously a good year.

I expected to see them fly before September, but apart from a few days with only a fleeting glimpse of them, most appeared to stay until after the recent big storm. Were they telling me something?

It would suggest so as the storm didn’t herald the start of autumn, merely that start of an Indian summer, which in turn appeared to be the catalyst for the swallows to depart.

As we basked in 30c and wall to wall sunshine, so the swallows made their exit and other animals made the most of a late harvest as blackberries ripened in the hedgerows and insects continued to flourish.

The weather has certainly helped my tomatoes ripen and also have a positive effect on my peppers, carrots and chillies.

In the last week I’ve had over 100 cherry tomatoes ripen and I’m expecting at least double that in the next week or so, despite the weather actually starting to behave like October.

The summer has been patchy at best, but it appears to have been good for the wildlife. The blackbirds have raised at least two broods, as have the robins.

I’ve recently heard the blue tits and watched a number of great tits on the feeders, some of which must be this year’s brood from the nestbox.

Talking of the nestbox, I’ve not see any activity in there since the great tits left in early summer and I’ll soon be clearing it out ready for any roosting birds over the winter.

The breeding birds of the summer have shown signs of fatigue as the end the post-chick raising moult, I even saw a male blackbird with a grey head, but this has gradually turned black again.

Finally my pond has helped form a place for a frog to spend time but has produced no tadpoles this year. This winter I’ll be filling it in as my daughter is now walking and exploring everywhere.

In its place I’ll continue the rockery and have a boggy wildlife area until such time as I can have the pond back.