Dark and crumbly

Although I diligently compost everything that can be composted, the end results are not usually very impressive - a bit sludgy, with odd bits of cardboard, twigs, eggshells and avocado skins dotted about in it.  Emptying out the black bin which has been cooking over the summer, however, revealed an end product that I was really quite pleased with.  It was properly dark, crumbly and well-mixed, with very few of the tell-tale undigested bits that have marked my attempts hitherto.  I was so pleased that I sieved some of it for use in potting mixes.  The bins have now been re-filled with the more recent contents, properly mixed with paper, cardboard and the clippings from the last lawn-mowing of the year, and some of the lovely dark stuff put in the bottom of trenches in the veg plot for the broad beans and garlic (both now sown/planted out). I hope they appreciate it.

Very small fig

Most of this year's beans have been pulled up; there are still a few runners producing, but otherwise nothing much is going to happen this year.  The borlottis produced a few pods, but the French beans ('Ferrari') sulked completely.  The sweet peas have also been composted as they had mostly shot their bolt.  In the greenhouse, the tomatoes have suddenly started to ripen, prompted perhaps by a week or so of nice warm and sunny weather, and the aubergines, which had done even less than last year, belatedly started to set a few fruit.  These could be the smallest aubergines ever as the plants aren't going to last much longer!  On the subject of small, our newly acquired fig plant (a gift from a neighbour), still in its pot, has produced one tiny fig, about the size of a marble.  This will have to be removed, as autumn figs don't ripen in this country, which is a pity!

Dahlias 'Ambition' and 'Blue Bayou'

The dahlias are still mostly doing well, with 'Bishop of Llandaff' finally producing a flower (though 'David Howard' seems to have succumbed to slug damage).  Most of the colour is still from 'Ambition', 'Bishop of Auckland' and 'Blue Bayou'.  The Zinnias are almost all over and have been pulled up, but the Cosmos continue to flaunt their pinkness across the garden.  The purple Michaelmas daisy is out, and the little red Chrysanthemum, which had a single flower on it, has suddenly sprouted a whole host of little buds.  There are also a reasonable number of Nerine buds showing too.  The most exuberant flowerer at the moment however is one of the Hedychiums in the greenhouse, which has a huge, scented orange head on it.

The birds seem put out by our absence for a few days and are sulking; but there has been a wren around in the hedge, a nuthatch hammering away in the tree and a big flock of long-tailed tits chattered through the garden today.