Productive day

Monday is washing day here, and luckily the weather is glorious, blue sky's and not a sign of the torrential rain we had on Saturday, so the clothes have been blowing gently on the line.

While the washing machine was doing it's thing I did the usual Monday morning re-set of the house and whizzed the mower over the grass to pick up all the leaves and acorns that have fallen in the last couple days.  This time of year is the hardest I find, having an oak tree in the garden means that the garden is only ever tidy for half an hour after you've finished making it tidy and this year is a mast year so there will be an abundance of acorns, (the squirrels will be happy).  Last year was a bust year, so no acorns.

Mast and bust years happen every 5-10 years but not necessarily on a regular basis, it's dependant on a number of things that could trigger either mast or bust.  What's fascinating is that if it's going to happen then it will happen right across the UK and nearly every single oak tree will produce a bumper crop in the same year, (or not, if it's a bust year).  Isn't nature wonderful?

I braved the rain on Saturday and harvested a few things, some of the rainbow carrots and our first swede which we ate yesterday.

And I've popped down again for an hour today to have a quick tidy after the weekend rain.

Pumpkins picked, all the greenery had died off so hopefully they will continue to turn more orange in the conservatory.

Cleared out the tomato plants at home, eventually these should turn red and I'll probably make another batch or two of pasta sauce.

So that was my Monday, all the washing is dry, folded and put away and I think my day is finished to today. 

I'll leave with a beautiful rainbow photo I took while down the allotment a couple weeks ago. 

-X-

Bumper harvest

 So chuffed with my harvest from the allotment today.

I'm away next week so wanted to harvest everything that was ready so that It didn't go to waste.

Rhubarb - enough for another crumble, (that's the last now).

Five onions -I'll chop these and freeze, we still have more in the ground to pull.

Two lettuce

Two cucumbers

Couple hands full of tomato's - (a little under ripe but I'll take them with us in a paper bag).

And 21 courgettes!

Think it's safe to say we planted too many courgettes this year 😂 although everyone likes them so they will be shared with extended family.

While I was there I also collected some more poppy seed heads.

They were so easy to collect, simply wait until the seed head has turned brown and just cut and shake out into a bag or container.  I will leave the seed heads upside down in a bag for another week to collect any remaining seeds.  Apparently the seeds need to be stored in the fridge and can be sown in the Autumn.   Then, with a bit of luck I will have beautiful pink peony poppies next year. 😁

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