It was last Friday evening and the end of a very welcome two-week dry spell. The darkness was falling as I mowed the lawn and reflected to myself that this is the time of the year I most look forward to.

With the workload easing, the evenings drawing in, the scent of wood smoke in the air, the shrill call of a blackbird, the leaves spiralling lazily to the ground, the damp stillness as the sun sinks to sleep, the past summer is a distant memory.

But there are still visual memories of my daughter’s magical midsummer wedding in the garden as the fairy lights on a stricken weeping ash tree flicker into life in the failing light.

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And yet, now in this much-heralded time of the year, I think ‘it’s not that great’. Autumn will quickly give way to the drab greyness of November and then the whole Christmas saga will play out when everybody is supposed to be full of the joys of the season. But that’s not me.

Fieldwork to all intents and purposes had just finished the previous day and desiring a day away, I went down to Blessington to look at a tractor to replace the unloved Massey Ferguson.

Google Maps had brought us (Mrs P came along for the drive) the most convoluted route in a great autumnal scenic sweep around north Kildare and eventually to our destination.

But I didn’t swear at Sarah sat-nav as we weren’t tied to time and the specimen trees and old woodlands were absolutely beautiful in the great old walled estates around Naas.

There was even sprightly but fleeting sunshine to spotlight the great old beeches, limes and oaks in all their finery as, though it had been dry overhead, sunshine had been very scarce for the past two weeks with an all-pervading anti-cyclonic gloom.

It cheated us out of a beautiful serenade to what has been a pleasant year weather-wise. Though autumn 2024 was preferable for fieldwork with better establishment, oilseed rape excepted – it’s superb this year.

The late September rain this year left the land wetter than autumn 2024. Seedbeds are not as good.

With min-till and, I expect, even more so with no-till (direct drilling), you never really know how good a job you’ve done until the crop is established.

Whereas with the plough and one-pass system you certainly have more confidence that seeds are off to a good start and so, for that reason, it’s hard to beat. But no-till is rapidly gaining more ground and new converts every year.

Serious acres

Mind you, the ploughs were out in force last Friday, in those large landmark undulating stubble fields at the roundabout for the Sallins bypass.

There’s no doubt that a couple of big ploughs and a six metre one-pass can cover serious acres in a short time. You could sleep easy after such a nice day’s work.

The plough is not as carbon-releasing as once thought, and if you’ve remained loyal until now, I think you should continue to do so. Our plough was only out after the potatoes but the min-till crops have been slow to get going.

Yes, I think they will be okay but between oat volunteers, chopped straw and slugs and wetter soils, crops are under pressure.

Most fields were rolled which is obviously a help, but rolling followed by heavy rain can give you a right kick in the arse.

And now with October done, my mind has moved on to the magical month of May. Faraway fields are always greener.