Autumn!

Autumn is definitely here - leaves are beginning to change colour, the days are noticeably growing shorter, there is a chill in the air in the mornings and there are spiders everywhere you look! On the plus side, the hedgerows are full of blackberries, to Angel's delight and I am overwhelmed by a glut of plums - so much so that I have resorted to making plum gin, vodka and brum (a mix of rum and brandy) It is one way of using up old spirits I suppose! And of course, much easier than making jam ...

Harvesting the hedges!

Strange fruit

Another blog in haste - busy harvesting fruit on the allotment in between showers, and then prepping it for jam or freezing in between the sunny spells!
There are currently a lot of wasps in the garden too - a little while ago my Waspinator blew down and shredded itself and I didn't get around to replacing it. No point, I thought - the summer is nearly over ... silly me. The Waspinator usually does a sterling job and I only ever see the occasional solitary wasp passing through: the other day while doing a little digging I suddenly found myself surrounded by a cloud of them. Since then they appear to have taken up residence round the willow tree and the topiary box next to it, swarming all over them and the ground at the foot of them is alive with crawling black and yellow bodies ... Some are absolutely huge. Normally I try to be as organic and eco-friendly as possible, but I really can't have wasps moving in to the garden because of the dogs - whenever Archie gets stung he blows up something horrible. I always make sure that when we go for a walk I have Apis mel. and anti histamine tablets with me ever since he somehow managed to tread on a bee on what should have been a relaxing stroll ...  Calling in the wasp man from the council is out of the question as they just bombard with chemicals, which I don't want to expose my dogs to either.
So following suggestions from the Friendly Gardeners on Facebook, the tree is now festooned with brown paper bags stuffed with newspaper, and wasp catchers, while the remaining Waspinator is hung from the nearby apple tree, Strange fruit indeed. Lets hope it works!

Going to seed

Time to save some seeds - I've been collecting them from nasturtiums and sweet peas this week, to keep for sowing next year, and am about to collect the seed heads from the evening primroses so I can have a few where I want them., as well as the random ones that always spring up ...
There have been some not so good seeds around too: at times this year it has felt a bit like we've been playing Grass Seed Russian Roulette ... Archie has had them in his ear on several occasions before now, despite trying to keep him away from grassy verges. The last time was particularly horrid as it ended up on his eardrum and he ended up with it being ruptured and on ab's and a lot of pain for some time. And then on Friday he got not one, but two in an eye while out on a walk, after succeeding in juggling his tennis ball right into a grassy verge. I succeeded in floating one out - I always carry water with me - but the other one disappeared  into the corner of his eye and disappeared. We cut our walk short and went home, where he was dosed up with homeopathic Silica ... an hour later, just as I was thinking we might have to go the vet to ask them to flush it out, it made an appearance in the corner of his eye and this time I was able to successfully remove it. Nasty things, grass seeds, whether stuck in paws or anywhere else - they can also get up noses, and into eyes. If removing one, check carefully to make sure the pointy ends are still there. I was amazed at just how sharp this seed was two hours after getting into Archie's eye - it hadn't softened at all, as you might have imagined it would.
What has this got to do with dog friendly gardening? If you leave your lawn edges tufty, as I do, for your dogs to graze on, do trim back the tops when they start to seed - and avoid ornamental grasses unless you trim the decorative seed heads off ... no point in trying to avoid them on walks if they are infesting your garden!

The culprit ...

The allotment floweth over ...

A brief lull between fruit and veg harvesting to tidy the compost heap.
And to plan a bit of  rebuilding later in the year ...

It's all go on the allotment at the moment - just about to embark on the blackberry, damsons, plums, apples and pears picking season - the blueberries are in full flow and have done exceptionally well this year. Much to Archie and Angel's delight, as they love blueberries almost as much as strawberries - I started with one in a pot in the back garden but moved it to the allotment when it became clear that otherwise it was going to be a race every morning between me and the dogs to get t the ripe berries first. It has been joined by 5 other bushes since then ... but when I arrive home with the harvest each day I get mugged at the door for a sample!

One of the quality controllers checking out the goosegogs earlier this year

So that's how you do it ...

At the allotment first thing this morning and then off to Chiltern Open Air Museum for a walk with Archie and Angel before it got too hot. It was Viking weekend there and we found a Vikingess who wove her own lovely willow baskets. She had a whole load more with her, ready to use ... and so I learned that the lengths of willow that I didn't use earlier in the year after cutting it, and which has been propped in a bundle awaiting its fate is still usable ... simply soak it first to restore its pliability. A day per foot of length apparently.
So now you know too!

Vikings camping out

All set for willow weaving

A fine crop ...

... of caterpillars!
Too numerous to count - but not a surprise [perhaps in view of the vast number of butterflies I've seen so far this summer. Lots more moths than usual too, leading to many bedtime chases as Archie will not settle if one is flapping round the room. The bats are back again too - one was dancing all round my head the other evening out in the garden: it was a real delight. Does anyone know of good bat boxes so I can buy a couple to put up? All the ones I have found so far have been smooth, finished wood, and bats apparently prefer it to be rough and unfinished so they can get a grip on it with their little bat feet :-)
Anyway, here is a picture of that caterpillar crop ...

Another quick one!

Another brief post as the allotment is going at full throttle at the moment and when I'm not picking black and redcurrants, jostaberries, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries I'm prepping them for the freeezer ... Archie and Angel always greet me at the door, ready to enthusiastically sample anything left at nose level.
Some is frozen whole, some stewed ready for pies, Eve's puddings and crumbles, and I've just made a half dozen Summer puddings: later in the year when things have calmed down a bit I'll retrieve some of the frozen fruit to make jams and jellies at a more leisurely pace.
In the meantime here's a picture of a butterfly: I haven't seen so many around for years, but they are everywhere - although I have seen very few Cabbage Whites this year ...