There is real satisfaction to be had being outdoors in October, enjoying the slanting sunlight, making the most of what we’ve got and planning and planting for more
The decaying foliage allows plenty of late sun to ripen the skins of our squash, marrows and pumpkins
Perhaps it was my seven years spent as a choir boy in a small Shropshire town that shaped my thoughts, but for me there has always been a special significance in gathering in the harvest. There are echoes of Badger’s home in ‘Wind in the Willows’ combined with lines from familiar hymns and novels byThomas Hardy; frugality, security and undeniably a touch of romanticism. Somehow filling the freezer after the weekly shop is not quite the same as boxing up our ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ apples that scent our cellar with a satisfying aroma until the following May.