Monday 19 September 2011

Autumn feelings

The weather has changed to colder nights, misty mornings and shorter days. Two weeks ago we had our first New Jersey Moreton tomatoes finally ready to eat. Delicious! The seeds came as Christmas present from Candace and Mr. Squash.


Yesterday I had to pick the whole harvest as there is a chance of night frost any night soon. On the left are the Ramapo mid season tomatoes, and on the right the early season variety Moreton. Obviously our season is too short! And "everything's big in America", some of these are as big as my fist.


Here are the almost done ones. The small ones are our last domestic plum tomatoes.


These we had this morning at breakfast.


We also have some cherry tomatoes. Almost lingonberry tomatoes!


I have been knitting again. When I was digging through some boxes I found lots of yarn I didn't remember I had, and so I knitted the pink sweater using some of the darker red for stripes. All three sweaters have the same amount of stitches, and the same 3.5 mm needles, and the yellow and dark red even have the same yarn, but all three are different sizes. Luckily, so are babies! These are going to be my PIF gift for a charity. My PIF ladies, be patient, I will send your gifts soon too!


Yesterday I was picking our last apples for apple sauce and found a tired little hedgehog asleep under the apple tree. I didn't make a picture because I didn't want to wake him or her up. The hedgehog looked almost like dead but it was breathing steadily so I think it was fine, just enjoying the sun's warmth. There were many of these toadstools on our lawn , maybe here is a guest room for the Houseelf?



When I was hanging up my washing on the line, I heard the cranes. They are a sign of Autumn coming too, gathering together for their migration to North Africa and the Nile. There is a video on this link showing the cranes in the spring when they return here for nesting.



As the birds leave us, the nature gets more quiet. The cheerful singing belongs to spring when the males try to impress their mates. Come Autumn, the birds only chirp quietly and they will share in a peaceful manner the seeds we offer. In a few weeks the last little migrating birds are getting on their way and we will start feeding the ones which are meant to stay here for the winter: tits, bullfinches, greenfinches, yellow-breasted buntings, siskins, woodpeckers, blackbirds. I miss seeing them already, as they have disappeared in the forest for all summer. After the first hard night frost they will return and see if the sunflower seeds are in the usual place again. They will be!

11 comments:

  1. i do so much enjoy reading your blog Ulla, it's so interesting with seasonal notes and photos.
    When it's time to pick my last tomatoes i was told once to pull up the whole plant by the roots and to hang it upside down in the garage, which i do with a sheet of newspaper under it. It works well as the remaining tomatoes ripen over the next 2 weeks.

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  2. Thanks for the tour of fall at your place. Those toadstools sure look lovely. The baby sweaters are adorable, did you use a pattern? I too am working on finishing up my pif gifts these days. I still have several months before the deadline, but there's really no point waiting is there...

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  3. Good Morning Ulla, I always enjoy visiting your blog. Gall is my favorite time og year. I love the colors. Hope all is well over there with your family . Thinking of you, Hugs, Marie

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  4. You've had the same thought with your baby sweaters as I had. So good you still found some more yarn for your lovely two new baby aweaters. I've found some wool too, but they do not match well together, so I'll go and buy some more. It's fun to knit from time to time again. I wrote to UN in Geneva in order to get some more information about this charity knitting to Afghanistan. I wonder whether I'll get some answer, otherwise I'll come back to you ;-) !! Ja, es ist Herbst geworden...bei uns ein typisches Zeichen, wenn die Schafe auf der Wiese hinter dem Haus grasen. Der erste Schnee hat sich bereits in höheren Lagen gezeigt, ich hoffe aber, dass es noch seeeehr lange Herbst bleibt :-) !! Du Glückliche kannst eigene Tomaten essen! Ich hatte dieses Jahr ausnahmsweise keine im Garten.
    Herzliche Grüsse, Barbara

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  5. Everyone seems to have tomatoes but us. We did get a few big ones but not as many as I had thought we would get but there are quite a few little ones so that will have to make up for it. I love the changing seasons and the walking weather. Will you be making some tomato sauce or chili with all your tomatoes?

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  6. Wow - Mr. Squash and I are so glad for your tomato harvest, Ulla! Thanks to extra warm weather, we are still harvesting ours daily! I wish we could send some more over to you and Mr. K! The knitting is beautiful - how cute they will be on the little ones! Those mushrooms are incredible - and yes, really look like they would be at home at Melanie's! The cranes must be so spectacular flying above - I do love Autumn!
    Cheers!

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  7. Hi Ulla,
    I am almost tomato green in envy at your toadstools! I only get the boring brown sort a little like magic mushrooms in my lawn! Maybe you already have some elves setting up a village in your garden?

    Lovely little PIF vests. Well done.

    I have some green tomatos to come in this week. There is a nip in the air now and I've left the plant out as long as I dared.

    I watched the crane video. No wonder they are in so many Chinese paintings and a symbol. Their cruising in the clouds is so different from the pink footed geese who will start to arrive here with the Whooper Swans. They fill the sky in batallions of strict V formations honking instructions to one another and they fly in one direction.

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  8. I'll bet your tomatoes are delicious. I miss the taste of a fresh homegrown tomato right off of the vine. Maybe I'll try gardening again next year.

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  9. Ulla, Mum has just spent a delightful hour wandering thru your blog and your country side, she's enjoyed every minute of it. "i appreciate the effort you put into explaining what you do and admire all your work" Coralie

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  10. You certainly have an abundance of yummy tomatoes. I have never seen in person mushrooms as unique as those. I definitely agree that it should be a new home for House Elf.

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  11. Yes I know autumn is definetely her, I am so sorry to say so.. I have been very busy lately and there has been little time to blogg visiting..
    I hope to be back in my sewing room tommorrow !! Your flying geese are very cute Ulla ;-))

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