It’s the end of autumn in the garden, and everything is at a standstill. Beetroot, carrots and apples have been stored. So too have the late potatoes, which cropped well – even though the weather was very mixed during the year. The month of May, in particular, was very cold at a time when some vegetables need heat.

Tomatoes are one of these, but even though they were a bit late they turned out to be a good crop in the end with the last of the crop ripening indoors. Strawberries were a good crop also and were turned into jam for winter use, while some were sold for charity.

We are still enjoying lots of the alpine variety and will be as long as the weather forecast stays favourable. They should go on until Christmas, as they are still covered in blossoms. They are a great little plant for producing fruit from June until the first frost.

We also gave the garden a good clean-up, as it can get into a mess with leaves and decaying summer flowers. We have plenty of hard, white heads of savoy cabbage, autumn cauliflower and Brussels sprouts coming on for winter use. Parsnips, turnips, celery and leeks are left in the ground and are there whenever we need them, so it’s no wonder they have such flavour!

At the moment we are enjoying some lovely warm days, but we have had the rain as well; all in all it’s not too bad. though.

We were very lucky on the farm, as all crops were saved but the weather forecast is watched daily.

Soon the weather will turn colder, so don’t forget to set up some bird tables and feeders.

We covered our bird table, as the wild birds have to be protected against the six local hawks that are looking for a handy bird to catch.

We had a little cuckoo that sang her heart out in an old grove up our road until the hawk got her and tore her to shreds on the road. We always had a family of barn owls resident in an old house near us, but alas no more. They also got the baby swallows.

As usual every year we set off for a few days away.

This year we toured Cork and were based at Middleton Park Hotel, where we had a lovely time, so comfortable and great food. We had our usual driver bringing us all over the place, so thanks to Patsy for putting up with us for a week.

The same gang has been going for years: all 52 of us. Thank you to Betty for organising another great trip. Jenny and I enjoyed our time, as all of us together are like one big family, with a lively farming debate taking place at the dinner table. CL