THE MELLOW SEASON
Kitchen Garden|October 2020
KG reader Peter Dean explains why he loves the autumn months
Peter Dean
THE MELLOW SEASON

Autumn is a mellow time of year, when the amount of daylight slowly fades. Trees show red and orange hues as leaves fall to the ground, and fungi push their fruiting bodies into the air.

Little cyclamen flowers dance under trees and perform, their purple or white petals giving a soft cover to the ground.

In the flower beds there are rudbeckia and echinacea cone flowers offering regal beauty, while Verbena bonariensis still pokes through to dominate the flower patch. Bees gather the last of the rich nectar, buzzing freely.

Stone fruit like plums and damsons are ready for picking by September. With the hotter spring and summer weather we are getting now, some fruit will already be dropping, so get out and collect them before they decay.

Pears, apples and autumn raspberries should be harvested and either stored carefully in boxes, bottled in Kilner jars or put in tubs in the freezer. They will then be ready to eat over the winter months.

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