Looking back at October we realize that we have spent another month mostly away from the garden. The building work inside is progressing slowly but we have also spent quite a lot of time working in and for the Ballaghaderreen Community Garden. It is a precious project, lots of fun but equally time consuming now in its early stages. 50 Kg of Daffodils have been planted by the committee and volunteers, well over 1000 bulbs and we are looking forward to the display this coming spring and for many years to come.
At home in our own garden we have marvelled at the beautiful colours and shapes on offer, both as culinary delights and things just to feast our eyes on. Autumn brings its own beauty and this year we have had no hard frost yet, so it lingers on.
Between our conservatory and the garden, flowers are abundant and many varieties, like the pineapple sage and mashua, our perennial nasturtium with edible tubers are only starting to flower as the days get darker.
Brilliant red flowers on the Pineapple Sage.
The time we have spent in the garden have been mainly for harvesting and we now have ginger pears, Spiced pear syrup, dried apple rings, lots of frozen berries and some lovely rosehip and raspberry jam to see us through the darker months ahead.
Our main circle is a calming and reflective space at this time of year; most of the summer’s riot of colour has died back, revealing a more subdued, but not less beautiful palette to feast our eyes upon. We take pictures of the circle every month to keep a record of how it changes through the seasons and the years. You can find all those posts in the category; elemental circle.
East
South
West
North
We are looking forward to the month ahead; plans are made for tidying up the vegetable plot and mulching it, picking sloes for sloe gin and weeding most areas, ready for the arrival of snowdrops and primroses. We are fortunate to be living in a relatively mild climate where autumn lingers on and spring comes around very early, leaving little time for the frozen depths of winter, when not much is growing and flowering.
Our oca tubers, oxalis tuberosa, are still growing and will be harvested in December along with carrots and kale, all to be enjoyed in midwinter celebrations.
thegreenerdream 