It’s September already. Autumn is fast approaching, but for the now, the weather is perfect here in the South East. It’s warm but not the fierce heat we had a month or two ago. The garden has been revitalised by the recent rainfall and cooler evenings, and everything is blooming, fruiting and ready for harvesting.
Our little back garden has surprised us this year. Most of our growing takes place at the allotment, as you know, but we have a scattering of young fruit trees and bushes in the garden, not that we’ve had much from them… ’til now.
The plum tree that Ade planted five years ago has given us our first proper crop of delicious, ripe plums.
The tiny little pear tree which Ade only planted eighteen months ago is dripping with pears.
Having enjoyed strawberries, blueberries and gooseberries earlier in the summer, we’re now looking forward to our autumn-fruiting berries: raspberries and late season strawberries.
We’ve taken the last fig from the tree and the crab apples are colouring up nicely.
As well as the bumper crop of fruit we’ve had, our bronze fennel has looked spectacular this year, although I’m rather ashamed to admit that I’ve treated it more as an ornamental than an edible – I’ve barely touched it. But now the flowers have set seed, I’ve harvested the heads to dry out for a couple of weeks. I’ll pop the seeds in a jar once they’re ready so that I can use them for cooking later in the year. I did have to leave several flower heads for the ladybirds, however, as they were loving it!
So although there’s a nip in the air first thing in the morning, it’s dark by eight in the evening, and autumn is most certainly advancing upon us, for now, the days are perfectly warm and sunny, the garden is heaving with deliciousness, and we’re enjoying the fruits of all Ade’s hard work.
Happy September, everyone!
AGENTS OF FIELD 
Such an abundance this time of year! Wonderful about the plums. In Maine, the time has come for pears and apples.
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Are your plums a cultivar of the Japanese plum, or are the European plums? We know the European plums as prunes. They used to be one of the main crops in the orchards of the Santa Clara Valley, and were the most common crop in Campbell. The prune blossom in the Official Town Flower. Yours look like a type of (what we know as) prune to me.
Are crabapples popular there? We have a few old trees at the farm, but only because they were popular decades ago. No one grows them anymore.
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Do you grow minarette fruit trees in your garden? I’m taking out a couple of 10 year old plum trees as they’ve never fruited and want to replace with something a bit shorter and more accessible! (And, preferably, a tree that gives lots of fruit.)
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