End of August

Whilst the garden is looking good, there is lull in work for me, its nice to have time to sit and enjoy our work, so many plans have come together to make this space ours. Even with laundry on the lines its still perfect for us, these photo's were taken on Monday, last day of blue skies and sunshine. Note the happy hubby pottering in his garage, can't remember what he was doing other than his happy whistling.

Almost everywhere is full of late summer colour, so many beautiful flowers, I really have changed what I grow, the asters are now along with the zinnias the stars, I prefer the asters as they do no grow so tall, I have a cutting of a salvia hotlips and coleus, which I hope to have some good plants for next year. We are still getting small harvest, runner beans are still giving, and raspberries are bountiful. Hubby was unable to stop the water leaking from the water feature after George's crash, he did try a couple of times, so now I have a tall planter, which already has a lemon balm plant in. 

As yet we have not had much rain, it was supposed to rain on Wednesday, but again it's was cloudy and bright, we did get 2  five minute showers, just enough to wet the ground. Thursday again we woke up to blue skies, we had a tiny bit of rain overnight, it felt much cooler, I wore my long jeans, first time in ages. We had a huge storm in the morning, great but still not enough rain. I'm busy inside with my seeing machine, having loads of fun.

As a gardener I'm always thinking about the next planting/harvest, what space will become free, when and of course what to plant next, I use my raised veg bed as two square meters, making four squares, I do like to ensure I rotate my planting, it's something I understand, I do have to check what can follow what to ensure my soil is being looked after. I will give all 3 of my raised beds are good layer of leaves  collected from daughters garden, I will top them off with my homemade leaf mulch, and let them lie for the cooler months, I can then cover until next year to warm the spot for early planting. I'm hoping this will work, I really don't want to purchase any more mulch, I'm hoping it will protect my broadbeans, leeks and cabbages which will still be in the ground.