Tidying up for winter, goodbye Cookie

Regarding my previous post, I had a tray of various brassicas from August;  these I just planted out despite mostly being rejected for the first transplant as way too small.  They're not much bigger now!  But I have space at the allotment so I thought I might as well.  I also planted out this year's sowing of wallflowers, which had been waiting patiently in their pots since late spring;  I planted a few in the kitchen garden border and in my tiny front garden, near the newly planted daffodil bulbs.  Was that actually the last planting of 2026?  It better be...

It meant I could finally move the big table off my patio, back on to the lawn, and tidy it up a bit.  That big table has been holding seed trays since March, taking up half my patio.  Now I've swept up, brought the houseplants back indoors from their summer vacation, and even weeded a little around the edges.  The beds themselves need a good tidy, but at least the patio looks much nicer.

Lots of chilis at the front, aubergines at the back, October 2026

Still harvesting too many vegetables!  At the weekend we filled our sacks with more tomatoes, cucumbers, leeks, big black radishes (for cooking), fennel, Brussels sprouts and a cauliflower.  I think the toms and cucs might have had it now;  they both still have some fruits but may not be able to grow/ripen now.  Maybe the toms.  However, there are still a lot of the rest--and more:  still have a bit of cabbage, kohlrabi, pak choi, komatsuna, parsnips, beets, chilis.

Speaking of chilis, the husband took it on himself to make a batch of chili sauce with the toms, chilis, garlic and onions we grew.  I'd already made a recipe called Easy Hot Sauce from another website;  I think maybe I didn't use enough chilis as it isn't very hot.  More like a mild spiced vinegar.  Hopefully the husband's has more of a kick;  his recipe is from Joy of Cooking, substituting chilis for red bell peppers.

Little aubergine:  most didn't get much bigger than this, October 2026

In sad news, our ten year old Pekin bantam Cookie died last week.  She was an excellent broody hen and mother to many chicks, as well as being our favorite chicken all around.  She's been with us so long;  we'll really miss her.