The light is lower now and the pines throw their shadow across almost the whole garden by four o'clock. Time to tidy up and plant the one thing that goes in before winter.
Garlic
Forty cloves of a hardneck variety from last year's harvest, planted along the fence where the sun lasts longest. Five centimetres deep, fifteen apart, then a thin layer of needles on top once the first shoots appear.
Seeds
The climbing beans were left on the vine until the pods rattled. They are now drying on newspaper in the shed. French marigolds are the easiest seed to save — pull a dry head apart and the long black seeds come out ready to go. Both are labelled in paper envelopes; last year I forgot, and spent April guessing.
For next year
- Try woodrush and wild strawberries under the pines.
- A second, smaller blueberry bed for 'Northland'.
- A proper water butt at the shed — one is not enough in July.
- Fewer tomatoes. I say this every year.