Late Summer and into Autumn

Autumn Fruits are now starting to fill out on the hedgerows and in the woods.  Elderberry are just right for picking and making jam, cordial or wine.

Rowan Trees are equally bountiful and ready for the cook and the jam pot.  Mind you, you need to be quick before the birds beat you to it!

Nor does it seem that many weeks ago since the Hawthorn was full of its White Blossom, now it is a mass of red berries. and on the Oak’s the acorns are setting nicely starting to swell ready for the Jays and Squirrels to hoard for the winter.

As to the Chestnuts….well that is a strange one.  I made mention last week that the Horse Chestnut had already dropped a good deal of its leaves, nor are there many ‘conkers’, those that have formed are small and shrivelled.  I suspect it is the dry conditions that we have had this summer; the Horse Chestnut also has big broad leaves that allow the moisture to escape easily so I guess that will not have helped.

The Sweet Chestnut seems to be another story as in our woods they are bursting with new fruit….I just hope they can now swell to give a bumper crop of nuts to roast.

 

 

Rosebay Willow Herb is now casting its seeds to the wind….a plant that many detest but for me is just a part of our countryside and one of the attractive markers of the change of season.  In the USA they have a plant they call the ‘Fire Weed’….I suspect it is either the same or very closely related.

Elsewhere in the woods the lower autumnal sun is starting to shine through the trees but as yet the colour has a good way to go before the colours of autumn start to show.