As the air turns crispy and the leaves change their colour, I am reminded by nature that we are changing into a new season: autumn has arrived. I love taking a moment to notice the changing of seasons by creating little habits in the home and garden.
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Preparing the home
It’s time to get our snuggly winter duvet and cosy jumpers out of storage and to put our summer clothes away. I recently managed to buy a vintage Laura Ashley woolen jumper in a charity shop and it has already become my favourite item of winter clothing. The colours and prints on it cheer me up so much 🙂
Another thing that really cheers me up and that may be a bit cliche is… everything pumpkin (and squash)! When I went to the Lidl last week, I couldn’t stop myself from buying two pumpkins to decorate the dining room (and to eventually eat). I just love the sight of them.
Also, give me a good pumpkin spice latte and I get all the cosy autumn feels. I haven’t baked anything with pumpkin yet, but I tell you… it WILL happen!
UPDATE 2-1-2021: Find my Pumpkin Puree From Scratch, Pumpkin Spice Paste, and Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe here!
It’s also high time to pick blackberries and apples to make jams, sauces, muffins, and tarts with them. Have you tried my blackberry jam recipe yet? If not, find it here!
Preparing the garden
Last but not least, it’s time to prepare the garden for the colder seasons. Do not be fooled, before last year I used to see the garden as something only to be used in spring and summer. But o how I have learned!
I recently purchased two gardening books that have been extremely fun and educational so far. ‘Grow your own veg‘ by Carol Klein and ‘The veg grower’s almanac‘ by Martyn Cox. (These are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure policy here.)
The first book will tell you step by step how to grow certain vegetables (with handy pictures), and the second book tells you per month which vegetables you can grow and what you can do in the garden.
Did you know that the coming months will be ideal for growing winter salads, garlic, or even Christmas potatoes? Can you imagine digging out those potatoes a couple of days before Christmas, wondering how many there will be and how big they will be? I think it’s brilliant!
Our Christmas potatoes seem to be growing like crazy, but just to avoid any problems with our Christmas dinner, I will be digging them out a bit earlier to see if they worked out alright.
Last spring we planted our very first potatoes and o… how much fun that was! I have to be honest, looking back I feel like those potatoes were our only big success in the garden this past season. We planted a few things in the beds of our garden and they did not turn out great. And our lettuce kept being nibbled at!
When dissembling the raised vegetable bed for the move, I found out that the slugs actually lived in between the lining of the plant trough. Can you believe it?! It was a fight that could never be won.
How are you preparing for the colder season? Do you have little habits you like to do once the colder air tickles your nose?
Much love,
Jenna
