A windy weekend and suddenly the trees look bare and the lawn is carpeted with leaves.  The smaller leaved willow and birch are still hanging onto theirs, but the walnut and chestnut seem to have found the wind too strong.

An hour sweeping up and bagging now will pay dividends later in the year.  After a shower of rain ram the leaves tighly into leaf sacks and leave them in a quiet corner to compost. In the spring your grass will thank you for not having left soggy leaves all over it and in the autumn you will have some wonderful leaf mulch to spread on your flower beds.

It's important to keep bird feeders filled all year, but there's no doubt that the birds seem to be more hungry in the winter.  We have a range of bird feeders and this new peanut bird feeder seems to be particularly popular now that the first frost has hit hard.  The birds love it but the squirrels don't as they can't hang on!

As well as there being less food around for the birds at this time of year, there is also less daylight for them to go foraging in.  To mark the clocks going back this Sunday the RSPB is promoting a national feed the birds day.  They have arranged lots of events around the country and are providing valuable tips about providing food and shelter.  Well worth a browse.

Hiding behind these bulging mottled skins are my all time favourite kidney bean.  Borlotti beans not only look special, they taste special too.  They have a sweetish flavour and creamy texture that makes them a perfect partner for just about any meat or fish (sounds like something on the back of a wine bottle). 
My favourite way of cooking them is much like puy lentils, with onions, carrots, celery, peppers and a little bacon or chorizo, covered in water and simmered for the best part of an hour. 

I have also successfully dried borlotti beans.  The flecked skins look pretty and they will last for a couple of years, but they are at their best eaten fresh.  And now is the time!

At this time of year when our lettuces are looking decidedly depleted, its good to see the rocket is still going strong.  We grow two varieties, the yellow flowering wild rocket and the white flowering cultivated rocket.  The wild rocket is a perennial with fine puckered leaves and a strong peppery taste.  The cutlivated rocket is more susbstantial with broader leaves and a subtler flavour (better for kids who don't like spicey food).  Both varieties work a treat with griddled squid and chilli oil, a favourite recipe from the blue River Cafe cook book.

It’s the time of year to give your hedgehog house a quick once over.  First of all check that it doesn’t have any residents in by wedging a piece of straw across the entrance and then checking back a couple of days later.  If the straws is still there you can be confident it is not being used, so give it a good scrap out and check it for leaks.  Hedgehogs are very adept at making their own nests, so resist the temptation to refill it with leaves or grass.

If you don’t yet have one and are feeling creative you can build you own hedgehog house.  It’s easier than it looks.  But if you would rather have one ready made delivered to your door you can buy a hedgehog house which is made of FSC oak and larch.  This is a thing of real beauty that the fussiest of hedgehogs will find it hard to resist.

Now that the weather has turned decidedly autumnal we have harvested most of our squashes.  We have plenty of gem squashes, but the uchi kuri have suffered from the dry spell towards the end of the summer and not swelled like they usually do.  That will teach me for not brandishing my Haws watering can more often!  Hopefully they will still make a wonderful nutty risotto.