Life on The Weald - September 2025

and other distractions including the garden and kitchen

1 September - Yesterday's plums

Tuesday 2 September

It was time to do something with all those plums which we had picked at the weekend. One solution was a plum tart but it was also time for jam making.

2 September - Plum tart

Wednesday/Thursday 3/4 September

There was heavy rain on Wednesday but a few sunny periods on Thursday when we picked some yellow courgettes, some Achocha and Purple Jalapeños and a lone tomato.

4 September - Courgettes, Achocha & Jalapeños

Sunday 7 September

At home the quinces were getting bigger every day and I wondered if the young branches would be able to support them!

7 September - Quince Serbia Gold

Monday 8 September

There were still loads of plums to be picked!

8 September - Plums

The beefsteak tomato which I had picked the previous week and which was only half ripe had fully ripened indoors 😊.

Tomato when picked 29 August

8 September - fully ripe beefsteak tomato

Sunday 14 September

After a few days away, the quinces were still getting bigger...

14 September - Quinces

...and the dahlias were blooming.

14 September - dahlias

I picked a few beetroots from the rainbow collection.

14 September - beetroots

The ground was covered with plums that had fallen from the trees

14 September - plum windfalls

Tuesday 16 September

I hand weeded one of the hugel beds in preparation for planting some onions and raked in some fertiliser of blood, fish and bone and then planted some onion sets, Winter Red, which I then covered with horticultural fleece to prevent birds pulling them out of the ground whilst they established their roots.

This is some of what lies buried under the bed (created in 2021)

2021 - the bottom layer - logs laid in trench

16 September - getting ready for planting

Wednesday 18 September

I picked one of the tromboncinos...

18 September - tromboncino

... and admired the handiwork and beauty of a garden spider on the shed.

18 September - European garden spider

Saturday 21 September

It was difficult to resist the temptation of picking the quinces, they look so good, but I'm told they should be harvested in October, so I have left them hoping they will survive the strong winds.

21 September - quinces

It was a bright, clear sunny day, so I planted out another bed with red onions. Sylvia tackled yet more brambles and in sieving a pile of compost (mostly old couch grass) discovered a smooth newt. The presence of newts might explain why our frog spawn disappeared.

21 September - Sylvi finds a newt

21 September - Sylvi's newt

After riddling the compost and clearing brambles, Sylvi picked yet more apples and I lifted some more beetroot. We also emptied a gro-bag containing red Duke of York potatoes which I had planted with the ones left over earlier in the year. There was a reasonable crop. I also planted a second bed of red onions in the hugel bed that I had started in 2021, where there was a lone Brussels sprout plant growing.

21 September - bed for more onions

Sunday 22 September

There was a sudden drop in temperature of several degrees. I lifted the remaining Charlotte potatoes and harvested a large courgette and some cucumbers.

22 September - potatoes, courgette and cucumbers

At home it was time to taste the fruits on my labours. The tomatoes and beetroot were full of flavour.

22 September - beefsteak tomato

22 September - orange beetroot

Monday 23 September

There were still a few beefsteak tomatoes in the garden and we were still picking sungold cherry tomatoes almost daily

23 September - beefsteak and cherry sungold tomatoes

Tuesday 24 September

Some of the rainbow beetroots were enormous. I thought they might be mangel-wurzels! But they came as seedlings from a reputable garden centre so I think I must have magic soil.

24 September - beetroot and a Size 9 (43) shoe

24 September - almost too big to handle

I may have a small head, but here's a comparison!

24 September - orange beetroot

I also weeded one of the beds that had been growing courgettes, in preparation for sowing broad beansI

24 September - preparing bed for broad beans

Thursday 26 September

It was time to lift some Jerusalem artichokes

26 September - Jerusalem artichokes

Saturday 28 September

I sowed some Super Aquadulce broad beans in trays at home, leaving them to germinate indoors, but I also sowed some directly in the soil on the plot and covered with fleece and some old wire shelves in an attempt to protect them from mice and squirrels.

28 September - broad beans sown and covered

At home, I had some purple sprouting broccoli seedlings, grown on from plugs amd decided there was room top plant a row next to the Brussels Sprouts where the potatoes had been grown this year. The ground was fairly weed free as I had only recently lifted the potatoes. I forked in some organic fertiliser ready for planting.

28 September - bed prepared for broccoli

Sunday 29 September

It was now time to plant the purple sprouting broccoli. It was a late season variety called Cardinal, one recommended by Charles Dowding as producing large deep-purple spears with excellent flavour. Hopefully they will be ready for picking in the spring of 2026

29 September - broccoli planted

29 September - fleece tunnel to protect broccoli

At home I sowed some sweet peas from seeds saved from this year's flowers and put them in the mini-greenhouse to germinate. I also strimmed and scarified and area of lawn ready to sow some wild flower seeds to create a spring meadow. - sprinkled some Love-in-a-mist seeds (Nigella damascena) that I had saved from some self seeded plants on the allotment, but will buy a packet of mixed wildflower seeds from the shop. I will look for a mix that includes yellow rattle as I am told this competes well with the grass and helps other wildflowers to flourish.

Monday 30 September

Monday was a day for harvesting chillies

30 September - clockwise from top left
Aji Red & Aji Limon, Basket of Fire, Jalapenos and Apache

There are more to come. I think I will freeze some for use throughout the year an make chilli sauce with the others.

John Austin

Hove, September 2025

Life on The Weald

and a few distractions - August 2025

Tuesday 1 August

The heatwave continues and the first day of August registered as the hottest day of the year, with the temperature in Hove reaching 27C.

Fortunately our area is not affected by a temporary hosepipe ban as we are less dependent upon river and reservoir levels than some nearby areas. In the evening, Sylvi gave the plot a thorough watering and picked yet more blackcurrants and blackberries and I planted out some perpetual spinach and Boltardy beeetroot seedlings - not the best time in this hot weather but they had reached the right size for planting out, so there was little alternative.

1 August - black currants

Monday 4 August

We removed the fleece tunnel from the Brussels sprouts which had outgrown it and put up some stakes with netting to protect from birds.

Tuesday 5 August

With the hot weather and lack of rain, the water level in the pond was very low so I topped it up from the water butts on the plot (these had been filled from mains water several weeks earlier so, by now, should be chlorine free). I weeded the Brussels sprouts that I had netted the day before, lifted some beetroot and picked some courgettes, French beans and sweetcorn. In the greenhouse the chillies were looking good and beginning to ripen.

5 August - Aji red

5 August - courgettes, beans and sweetcorn

Wednesday 6 August

I visited the plot but it was sweltering - far too hot to work, so I left and sat out in the sunshine at a beach cafe with old friends from Greenwich.

6 August - crotchety old pensioners from Greenwich

Thursday 7 August

By contrast, Thursday was cloudy and overcast. Sylvi picked loads of blackberries and sorted out some worm compost to add to raised beds. I filled the water butts that I had emptied to fill the pond. We did a bit of strimming to tidy up the place and collected a couple of bags of woodchip that had been delivered to the site. There were still some Charlotte early potatoes in the ground so I lifted a few to see if they were OK. I feared that they might have been eaten by slugs or wireworms but fortunately they were mostly fine. A few had begun to be damaged by slugs, so I will have to lift the remainder soon.

7 August - Charlotte potatoes

At home I was still picking handfuls of Sungold tomatoes every day.

7 August Sungold and Ruby Falls tomatoes

There was also Rhubarb Gin to be strained

7 August - Rhubarb Gin to be strained

After straining, the rhubarb which had been soaking in Gin for a few weeks, was still good for cooking with....

7 August - rhubarb after straining

...but the gin was ready to be bottled.

7 August - lovely pink rhubarb gin ready for bottling

Friday 8 August

The chillies, grown from my son Damien's seeds, would soon be ready for harvesting

8 August - Aji Red

8 August - Aji Red ripening

8 August - Santa Fe

8 August - Aji Limon

There were also tromboncino, and courgettes to be picked

8 August - tromboncino

8 August - tromboncino and courgettes

One of the tromboncino didn't seem to know that it was supposed to grow downwards!

8 August - a turn up for the books!

Sunday 10 August

We weeded the large cages where brassicas were growing and Sylvi cut back more brambles. The tree that we had planted for granddaughter Letty still looked stunted and rather pathetic, but this year was laden with fruit.

10 August - Letty's apple tree

Similarly, our plum trees (unknown variety but best for cooking rather than eating) were overloaded with fruit - and most of it pest-free.

10 August - plums

At home, I managed to find time to bottle the Rhubarb Gin.

10 August - Rhubarb Gin

Tuesday 12 August

In the garden the Basket of Fire chillies were beginning to ripen - they start off green or purple then turn red.

12 August - Basket of Fire

And our true Quince tree, Serbian Gold, was laden with fruit. It was a two year old bare root specimen which we had planted 3 years previously and this was the first year that it has produced fruit.

12 August - Quince Serbian Gold

The beefsteak tomatoes were looking good...

12 August - Tomatoes beefsteak

...and the Physalis (Cape Gooseberry) was in flower

12 August - Cape Gooseberry

When the heat had died down in the early evening I visited the plot, only to be followed everywhere by our friendly fox! I suspect that someone on the site is feeding it.

12 August - our resident fox

Thursday 15 August

We were picking tomatoes and courgettes almost every day and this evening I marinated some of the cherry tomatoes with olive oil and lemon juice and fresh herbs and then stuffed courgettes and roasted them with Halloumi cheese.

15 August - Tomatoes in marinade

15 August - Courgettes prepared for stuffing

15 August - roast stuffed corgettes with Halloumi

Sunday 17 August

The Aji Red chillies were beginning to ripen.

Monday 18 August

I weeded around the purple sprouting broccoli and placed slug collars around them to help prevent snail attack, from which they were suffering. I removed any snails I couold find and then sprayed the plants with a garlic spray (as I'm told this will deter slugs and snails). I also spread some coffee grounds around each plant, as a further snail deterrent.

18 August - purple sprouting broccoli

Tuesday 19 August

I spent most of my time on the plot strimming as the grass was growing very fast. I harvested a few large cucumbers.

19 August - cucumbers

Wednesday 20 August

Everything was very dry so I spent some time watering with the hose. I also put a mulch of wood chip and coffee grounds around the currants. The yellow courgette plants were continuing to produce new fruits/

20 August - courgettes

Thursday 21 August

My 81st birthday so I took a day off from doing anything energetic!

Friday 22 August

Over the past two days. the courgettes had grown and there were more cucumbers to harvest/

22 August - Courgettes and cucumbers

Sunday 24 August

A bright sunny days and the quinces were looking healthy in the sunshine.

24 August - the Quince tree

So I sat in the garden admiring the quince tree and the dahlias and then picked a couple of beefsteak tomatoes.

24 August - a dahlia

24 August - beefsteak tomatoes

Friday 29 August

One of the beefsteak tomatoes was doing funny things, in that one half ripened and the other hadn't! I picked it, nevertheless, and hoped that it might ripen indoors.