October!

Oh Readers,

Is it true that I haven't made a post since July and it is already October? How can this be? It seems like just yesterday I was picking raspberries for pies and fishing baby possums from the garbage can.

Nowadays, our time in the garden involves the usual chicken wrangling in addition to picking squashes, weeding and seed-saving. Yes, the sweet peas and nasturtiums are finally on their way out with no end to their seed producing days in sight!

While they wither away to scraggly vines, the dahlias, roses and delphiniums have returned with a vengeance and our garden is alive in full autumnal colour! Pinks, reds and purples appear to dominate this month's colour wheel, though I do wish I had thrown in a few orange and white dahlias to break things up a bit. (Don't tell The Husband I'm considering Orange Dahlias. This will only confuse him. Better to keep it between us.)

Our potager has been doing well with carrots, chard and cucumber performing magnificently. Let us not forget this year's prize-winning production champion the Scarlet Runner Bean which has performed above and beyond all perceived expectation.

No, there is no dearth of Scarlet Runner Beans and if any Tiny Green Cottage Reader would like to share a favourite recipe of theirs for the beans, it would be most appreciated. We've been forced to dry the majority of them simply because we can't keep up with the bounty. I'm told they are delicious sauteed with a pat of butter or olive oil with some salt, but there really must be some other creative way to put these to use. If you have any ideas, please do feel free to send them my way!

In other news, I do apologize for the decided lack of pictures. I'll have to remedy this at a near distant date. Meanwhile, please do enjoy the pictures of Dahlias (courtesy of Swan Island Dahlias in Canby, Oregon) which I would like to procure for next year's fall display.

xoxo

TGC

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