The Asparagus today is a soggy heap of yellowing fern:
However, in amongst the fern there are a few little red pearls...
Most of the shingle has now disappeared under a thick carpet of wet Maple leaves:
Isn't it amazing how many leaves can come off one tree? The nets over my raised beds catch many of them.
I have to sweep off the leaves every day or two in order to stop them blocking out all the light for the plants underneath.
My two clipped Bay trees are also good at catching Maple leaves:
I wanted a photo of my sapling Bay tree (to keep track of its progress), and that too has ended up being mostly a photo of wet Maple leaves!
To be fair, it's not just the Maple that has lost its leaves - the Dogwood shrubs have too. The colour of their stems will become darker and more vivid when cold weather comes along, but they are already looking promising.
I think I might need to get another compost-bin. I have three already, one of which is devoted to storing leaves, but they are all full, and leaves decompose very slowly.
Anyway, on the Plus side I finally got round to making a couple of trips to the Council tip yesterday, and I disposed of all that suspect compost that I had bagged up. Hard work, and very unpleasant, but I feel better now that its done.
I'm always sad when summer ends and even more so when we have autumn days like these, it's just so soggy out there. I'm afraid we're on a slippery slope now, all downhill to winter.
ReplyDeleteIt's fascinating to see how the onset of winter can bring such a drastic change.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when I saw your title even before I read anything. Clever
ReplyDeleteI stuff my fallen leaves into a wire enclosure, just some small gauge chicken wire wrapped round 4 stakes that have been hammered into the ground. I put a big slab of slate in the bottom so I can scrape it clean.
ReplyDeleteWhere is your soul Mark? Asparagus as it turns a gorgeous yellow is beautiful. One of my female asparagus is covered with red berries.
ReplyDeleteGive me mellow fruitfulness!
I didn't say Asparagus wasn't beautiful - in certain circumstances (i.e. sunshine!), Roger. It's just that today it had collapsed into a soggy mass. On a sunny day Autumn is great, but....
DeleteSince I finally completed building my compost bins this summer, this is the first year that I've collected leaves & so far I have collected at least 10 big garbage bags worth. I didn't think we would be able to collect that much ourselves as many of our trees are evergreens, so it was a pleasant surprise.
ReplyDeleteIt's been drizzly and murky for a few days here but today was bright and sunny until we headed further north.
ReplyDeleteDo you shred your leaves before composting them?
ReplyDeleteI have an electric leaf-sucker/blower machine that chops the leaves into small pieces as it picks them up, which is perfect for the job. Unfortunately it only works when the leaves are dry.
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