An east wind has been sweeping across the garden over the past week, lowering the temperatures dramatically. In Stephanie’s Kitchen Garden, leaves on tender crops such as beans and courgettes are turning yellow and beginning to fall. Our blueberries have been transformed into a stunning scarlet display.
This week we will be pulling the hoops and covers out of the shed to put over our raised beds and mangers. This will help keep our crops protected in the winter and allow us to plant out some winter crops such as spinach, rocket, mustard greens and chard.
Very soon it will be time to put up the bubble wrap insulation in the greenhouse. This week we will be getting our bubble wrap out of the shed to check it and see if we need to replace any of it, and make sure we are ready.
The birds have also sensed the change in the season and are more actively looking for food. We will be giving our bird feeders a good clean before stocking them up for the colder weather ahead. As food supplies begin to dwindle, our feather friends will appreciate a regular supply of food. They will now be looking for shelter so it is a really good time to be putting up nesting boxes, or cleaning out existing ones.
Our greenhouse crops are still fruiting, so we have no intention of clearing any space just yet. We will, however be moving pots of mint, thyme and coriander inside to keep the supply of herbs going. The basil that we sowed under the tomatoes back in the spring has done really well this year and is still going strong. We will be harvesting a good supply of it this week to freeze for use over the winter months.
