The not so lazy days of Autumn

Autumn brings a whole new level of activity to the garden. It is a season of contrasts where the summer vegetables have come to the end of their season and the autumn seedlings are showing their first leaves. 

With the removal of the mealie plants and the runner beans, the height of the vegetable garden was suddenly reduced to knee level. The tomatoes are offering a small variety of fruit but the brinjals are producing a profusion of purple fruits.

Young Brinjals and flowers

Carrots and beetroot are an old and reliable constant in the garden and I will soon sow a new bed of these for late autumn and winter.

Last of the tomatoes

Autumn is the time for planting garlic, sowing cabbage, peas, onions, lettuce and rocket. I decided to plant pink and white Egyptian garlic, brown and red onions, mange tout and green feast peas and cabbage in the available vegetable beds.

Freshly planted vegetable beds

Spring onions, leeks, celery, a variety of baby lettuce and rocket were reserved for the herb garden as well as black and blue edible pansies for decorative borders. When I saw a packet of blue pansy seed called ‘Cape of Storms’, I could not resist having them in my garden.

'The Cape of Storms' getting baby bullfrog approval

I have a weakness for blue flowers. If artichoke plants did not grow so large I would plant them just to have their flowers.

Roasted Brinjals with pomegranate arils

Quinces and pomegranates combined with brinjals bring an exotic element to lunch and supper- dishes. This, while the warm colours of the autumn leaves creates patterns on the lawn to resemble beautiful Eastern carpets.

A bullfrog blending with the autumn leaves

With the garden as a constant source of happy-exhaustion and expectation at the same time, autumn is definitely not a boring season.