So much of the work in the garden depends on soil conditions and weather – I choose to see this dry, sunny spell as a late stretch of summer rather than the beginning of autumn.
So, along with rows and rows of weeding to be done, there’s late summer pruning to be done on wall-trained fruit. The pruning on these trees is done late in the summer so that no new, tender growth will occur just before the frosts begin – the frost will damage tender growth before the wood had a chance to harden.
At the end of August, we said goodbye to the garden intern, Siobhain, who was a huge addition to the garden this year. September can still be a hectic month in the walled garden with an abundance of vegetables and fruit to be harvested for the Ballymaloe kitchen – this year was good for kales and cabbages, calabrese and kohl rabi.
Next week, the pumpkin harvest begins and there will be no denying that autumn has arrived. It was a great, late, summer while it lasted!
