Friday 7 November 2014

The first frost

Yesterday, 6th November, we had our first frost of the year, after a very mild September and October. I would say this is about a month later than normal. I wonder if it means our Winter will drag on for longer, into what we normally consider to be Spring - March and April?

My Blueberries haven't had such spectacular Autumn foliage this year. Normally the advent of cold weather makes their foliage go a very dark red colour, then drop off more or less all at once, but this year most of them have already shed their leaves, without putting on much of a show. Only one plant still has most of its leaves, but they are more orange than red this time.


The plant is gradually getting submerged in fallen Maple leaves:


While we are on the subject of Autumn colours, what about this...


It's a real "Rainbow" chilli! Actually, it's one of the "Ohnivec" type, which I picked last week. It was mostly green / light yellow and purple last week, but since then it has been drying in the airing- cupboard and it has rapidly undergone a ripening process, developing those orange and red colours. Presumably it will go completely red before it begins to dry out.

My white Rose has had quite a few blooms recently. Most of the flowers come in May / June / July, but there is often a small second flush at about the middle of October. Surprisingly they seem to tolerate the cold quite well, and it is not unusual to have a few flowers still going at Christmas.


The Parsnips will benefit from the frost, I expect. It is supposed to promote the conversion of starch to sugar, making the roots sweeter than previously. I have taken the Enviromesh cover off my Parsnip / Carrot bed now, but I'm worried that the local foxes will see this as an opportunity to have a good dig around in it, so I have arranged a few pieces of wood over it to dissuade them.


To be honest, I don't expect this to be very effective, but it was all I had time for. At the weekend I think I will find a piece of wire netting to make a more serious obstacle. And I might have a dig myself (I mean, lift some more carrots and parsnips!).

Urgh, looking at these photos has reminded me that I still have ahead of me the task of collecting all those Maple leaves. :(

3 comments:

  1. I have this picture of you digging in the bed now, like a fox. :>

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    Replies
    1. Well, at least I shall have the decency not to shit in the raised bed once I have dug it up! :)

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  2. Strange as we usually have our forst frosts in the first week of November so our first frost was bang on schedule. It generally marks the end of our alpine strawberry harvest which can get through to Bonfire Night.

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