NOT QUITE AUTUMN

27^th AUGUST – CENTRAL PORTUGAL

Well the season of ‘Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness’ certainly seems to have arrived in Portugal.  The cool morning mist, never seems to clear now before 10 O’clock, keeps the garden well dampened before the heat of the midday sun so everything still soldiers on. The cool nights, down to 10 degrees, have stunted the growth of most plants.  Now is a very good time to take the proliferation of ‘cuttings’ required for next year. (It really is awful to be thinking of next year at the end of August, but when weather patterns persist in being out kilter with the norm ‘needs must when the Devil drives’.)

Picked 50 kilos of apples, 30 kilos of pears yesterday, all peeled, cut-up, stewed and frozen already -  roll on ‘winter Puddings’. (Just love ‘Greek Yoghurt with pureed apples’ some much better for Diabetics than the usual ‘Honey’ accompaniment). So many apples this year, the Multi Talented Neighbour already distilling the fermented ‘mash’ into ‘High Octane’ spirit , which, when married with the extensive Lemon crop produces the most splendid ‘Limoncello’ for Christmas. 

The Head Gardner has also got into the Winter Spirit and covered Purple Plums with sugar and Gin, in a closed jar, to produce a delectable liqueur for the Festive Season.

Gin flavoured with these plums from last blog!

Enjoyed the last of the Sweet Corn last evening - best flavour and crop for many years (planted 40 ‘Sweety’ seeds and got 40 plants and 40 ‘Cobs’ all in 60 days). The ‘16^th June planting’ of Tomato seeds now full of ripening trusses of fruit, ‘Roma’, ‘Red Alert’ and ‘Tigerella’. They are all performing well, should be picking ripe fruit in next week (so no need to be planting Tomato seed in February and having the bother of keeping the tender seedlings warm and damp in the currently ‘awful’ Portuguese spring months.  Just plant in the sun and letter nature take its course).

Chilli plants now on the turn with the early fruiting varieties starting to turn red and hot. ‘Wenk’s Yellow Peruvian strain’ now bright red to orange ( strange thing is the fruits are both elongated, about 4cm., and round, 1cm.), ‘Palivec’ are on the turn from green to red, ‘Hungarian Wax’ bright yellow and profuse as always, ‘Piri Piri’ in excessive form this year, still green but growing larger by the day, the ‘Serrano’, ‘Tabasco’, ‘Cherry Bomb’, ‘Paper Lantern’, ‘Cayenne’, ‘Jalapeno’, ‘Bartlett’s Bonnets’ with ‘Lipstick’ and ‘California Wonder’  sweet peppers are all producing fruit in sufficient quantity for here and the ‘Third World’.

Cosmos and Impatiens are suddenly majestic,

Another view worth seeing of pretty Cosmos

Impatiens (Busy Lizzie) - grown from seed this season

 Roses starting their late summer bloom

Roses still giving their all

. Plumbago and Solanum 

Soft blue Plumbago climbing through a peach tree

White solanum - flowers endlessly

 climbing to the stars and in full bloom, Passion Fruit flowering, fruiting and growing in garden ‘Thug’ mode ( avoid planting the non-edible Passion Fruit -  flowers lovely, fruit poisonous(contains cyanide) and grows runners twelve months of the year, eradication after second year almost impossible).

Must go and plant the runners from the Strawberry plants (grew them in tubs this year with reasonable success) then feed old plants and keep in the sun for ‘Christmas’ fruit.  (Note from Head Gardener – hopefully!)

That sounds like the Head Gardener back from the morning ‘Promenade’,

 must dash, see you soon.

Stuart.

Note from Head Gardener - Lovely clematis "The President" is shyly flowering in a shady corner behind a lemon tree.