What's growing?

Have made 5lbs of very hot achocha chutney and a pint of yellow tomato ketchup.

Up to our necks in plums at present. It's a race to get to them before the birds. I've had to pick a lot of cooking apples slightly early to as the birds were pecking them and they were going bad. It don't remember that happening with apples before.

My Agapanthus is wonderful right now! It's a strident stripey blue.

Saw a big patch of agapanthus in bloom yesterday, and there are a few odd foxgloves around.
Lovely autumn crocus patch spotted in the park. Ivy flowers coming into bud.

The Reine de Reinette apples are almost ripe, Cox, Boskoop and Canada Gris cookers not quite ready. Pears and quince not ripe either yet. Masses of plums, red chard, courgettes, carrots, spuds and beetroot. Onions and garlic harvested and spectacular bean crop in freezer. Winter leeks coming on nicely. Today I am making spicy chutney from the glut of cucumbers, peppers and achocha and using up some windfalls in the process.

Anno, when I was expecting my sons, I used to say I had a craving for Grenadier cooking apples. Wasn't true, I just loved them anyway. I used to eat bagfuls of them.
Haven't heard of them for a long time.

Has anyone picked their apples yet? I've just picked some Braeburns which weren't ripe till October last year, but these are ready now and very sweet. I'm going to harvest the rest, and the Bramleys that have turned colour, too.

Penstemmon, see my last post just above yours. Give Wisley a ring and see if they still offer this service.

My MiL swore by Crispins and though I wouldn't often agree with her, she was spot on there. They can be used as eaters or cookers. I was delighted to find some in a local shop a few years ago - must have a look again this autumn though it's a shop I usually visit only when I go the the dentist.

Could it be Crispin, Penstemmon? They are a Japanese variety and not unlike a Granny Smith in flavour and appearance.

Mine are almost there but they usually ripen after the Bramleys.

In my last garden, I had a Grenadier (cooking apple) tree. The fruits can grow very large indeed. Sadly, I left before the tree grew to maturity. I first discovered this variety in King's Lynn market - it was very popular in Norfolk.

I have a new apple tree but I am not sure what variety.. green medium sized apples ripe now! Anyone help me? I am an enthusiastic but not very knowledgeable gardener.

If you think Bramleys are the best you probably haven't tried a Monarch. Can be eaten raw and when cooked do not need any sugar. Perfect for baking in their skins. Our Monarch tree is very old and one year yielded over 500lbs of fruit! I used to put them in a wheelbarrow and take them along to the school along the road (together with a supply of bags) for the mums to take home. How did we find out what variety they were? We sent 3 fruits, some leaves and a twig or two to Wisley and got a reply from the Director of Fruit Naming. I always imagined him at a party being asked what he did for a living, how marvellous to be able to say, '' I'm Director of Fruit Naming!

We have had such a good, warm summer that I suppose our usual cold weather had to turn up somewhere else. Sorry that it landed up in your garden Joan. If it were possible I would Skype you some of the gorgeous tomatoes we got from DD2 today, along with yellow beans and broccoli from our own garden. If it is dry we are going to start lifting potatoes tomorrow and expect to be picking plums by next week.

I'm getting confused by the weather; I thought the frost was over - sometimes it has been warm for weeks at this time of year, but not this time. We had -1 Celsius last night and no doubt tonight too. The frost has killed one of my three choko vines, and another is looking very dodgy. My gypsophilia seeds aren't germinating at all, nor are my garlic chives and cucumbers: I hope they aren't all dead under the soil. My onions are quite happy though, and my almost fully grown brassicas are loving it.

I'm really beginning to wonder if my area is morphing from sub-tropical to temperate.

PS
Spell check wanted to turn gypsophilia into pedophilia, and my brassicas to brassiness. What does it think my garden IS?

In the sub tropics not many apple varieties will grow; we get lots from Tasmania though. However there is one that grows in the sub tropics; it's called Pink Lady and is delicious. I've got some in my fruit bowl right now.

You can't beat Bramleys, can you Butty? I've got some big, fat ones on my tree this year

Ooh when, Bramley apples. Can't get them here, so I planted a Bramley tree 5 years ago. A slow start, but this year it's laden with the beauties!

We have wild Fen mushrooms growing at the bottom of our drive. They grow underground and you can find where they are by looking for cracks in the surface. Carefully scrape away the gravel or soil and you have a perfect close cap mushroom. You have to be quick though or they are full of maggots

PS
We do get mulberries, but not quite yet.

Oh how I remember setting off on my bike this time of year, with empty national dried milk tins strung on my handlebars, and coming back with them full of blackberries. Mum managed to look pleased, and bake blackberry pies and crumbles. We did a lot of mushrooming too.

Alas, blackberries are a noxious weed here in Queensland, though I have managed to grow my own mushrooms in the past.

The passion fruit is coming ripe right now, and a few remaining pawpaws. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with that.

Each day I'm gathering strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, broad beans, last of the rhubarb, and a few Bramley apples have fallen so they've been cooked. I love this time of year, when I can pick fruit and veg minutes before they're needed.

Why I planted strawberries are all dead ?? %>_<%

dustyangel the temperature here goes from around 2 to 6 celcius in the night, to the early 20s in the daytime.

The Paw Paw (papaya) needs one male tree for up to 8 females. You can tell it's a male when it starts to flower - the male's flowers are on little stalks, but the female flowers are tight up to the tree. So I plant loads of trees from the seeds of a ripe fruit, and hope to get a male among them!!

We are experiencing climate change here in South East Queensland. The winters are now colder, longer and wetter. We are still sub tropical, but I think we are closer to temperate than when we came here in 1979. It used to be too warm to need any heating at this time of year, but I'm still in winter woollies.

My veg. patch is providing all the makings of ratatouille and now have lots in the freezer. This year I couldn't get the flavour right, so added a splodge of balsamic vinegar and a little squeeze of lemon juice. Worked a treat.