Thursday is the autumn equinox and, even though it feels autumnal, there’s little sign of leaves on the big trees changing colour, except for horse chestnut trees turning prematurely brown because of leaf miners infesting the leaves.
Despite a host of other pests and diseases, it’s been a good growing year for trees. Plenty of rain, spells of warm sunshine and the astonishingly warm September all gave trees a big boost. If the days are sunny and the nights cool, without frost, there could be some excellent leaf colours and, if the weather also carries on being mild, the leaves could hang on well into November.
Blackberries and the other wild berries were late appearing after a cold wet spring. Hawthorn berries – haws – have come out and they make a good jam or jelly, and now come sloes – the berry of the blackthorn – which has a tart, acidic flavour. The best time to pick sloes is after the first frost, or they can be picked early and frozen to break open the skin, which makes a good flavour for gin as well as jams. There’s also been a good crop of crab apples. Homegrown fruit has been largely plump and sweet.
One of the unsung successes this year is the bumper season for British tea. From the highlands of Scotland to southern Cornwall, commercial tea plantations are thriving in Britain’s mild rainy climate, and this year’s wet and mild winter and the ensuing good summer led to an exceptionally good harvest of excellent quality – so good, in fact, that British-grown tea is being exported to China.
