Autumn

How temperamental plants are! How different one year can be to another! I have been away for a week, I was sure that when I came back my tomatoes would have ripened, some have but they are sick, they are all black at the bottom.

 I can eat the undamaged half, but I will only be able to freeze them if I cut them up and cook them. There really aren't sufficient to freeze many anyway. So different from the crops I have had in previous years.
Yesterday I pulled out the 'Cherry' tomato plants and collected the ripe tomatoes, they will keep me going this week. the peppers have been a real disappointment, it is too cool for them to ripen now.

I have also had the first of my Autumn raspberries, there will be a large crop but I doubt I will get many of them as I go away again next week. This next week I have to harvest my pears, I had a look yesterday, there are lots on the ground, there were strong winds and rain last week, but there are still plenty on the trees. I also have to clear all the cobwebs from the 'garage' so I can store them. A week of hard work ahead of me.

nearly Autumn

I now have loads of  'cherry' tomatoes, that at least is something. I have had a whole 5 decent sized tomatoes and there are 2 nearly red now. Progress is being made. The days are still pretty hot so I hope I may yet get enough to put some in the freezer. I still have loads of lettuce though it is getting less as I am pulling out whole lettuces instead of just taking off the leaves.
I will start picking my pears this week,there are loads. No walnuts though, that is a shame, there were so many last year. My apples were delicious, though very small. I will soon have another crop of raspberries so I am getting plenty of fruit.
I have been forgetting to water my carrots so I am not sure how they are doing, but they seem OK.
My peppers aren't doing much, the plants look healthy enough but the peppers seem a bit pathetic, other people seem to have enormous peppers. It is strange how some things do well and others don't.

September

We ended up with no water again last Sunday, hardly surprising as many people had left and those who remained were washing sheets by the wash load, next door did 6 wash loads!
My tomatoes are really on a 'go-slow' this year, I am managing to get a few nearly every day but they are still the very small ones. I have had 3 tomatoes that it was possible to slice, very different from the last 2 years. There are almost no walnuts either.
My autumn raspberries are starting to show fruit, I hope I will be here to enjoy them.