Beans, Butterflies and Poetry

The beginning of September! The end of Summer and a new season ahead of us with its own pleasures.

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” as the poet so rightly said. Our trees are dipping with the weight of delicious fruit. Such a good year for apples, pears and plums in my garden. Some are ready for harvest, others need a little longer. I had a bucket of windfall cooking apples so I made my Apple and Cinnamon Squares.

A couple of years ago I had one of those accidents which turn out to be a bonus in disguise. I was making my squares and I forgot to sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on the apples before I spread the cake mixture on top. I popped it in the oven and immediately realised what I’d done! I removed it right away but wondered what I could do. So I mixed the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkled it all over the top of the cake mixture.

I thought it would be a disaster! In fact, it turned out to be a delicious improvement to my recipe. The crisp topping is a tasty contrast to the apples below. Now, I always make them like this.

The original recipe is still good and if you have my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook you will find it in there along with other easy cakes. The book can be found with this link if you’d like to take a look. https://geni.us/eANQu

Runner beans grow at an alarming pace and huge ones are not nice to eat. If they are too big and stringy, remember you can remove the beans from the swollen pods and cook those instead.

Although they lose their lovely colour when cooked they’re very tasty and nutritious. They need at least ten minutes cooking but keep their shape and add texture to a meal. I add them to my one-pan meals but they can be boiled separately.

The courgettes have been wonderfully generous. I made two more of my Courgette and Ginger Cakes. So good sliced with a spread of butter. Always best to make two and they freeze well. My recipe is on a previous, recent post called Summer Pleasures and Cake. Easy to find by scrolling back.

The squashes are coming along perfectly. So pleased with the way they’ve grown. Just beautiful to look at and so satisfying.

Butterflies love over-ripe fruit so I leave a few fallen pears on the ground and crush them slightly to expose the juicy flesh. I also put a black-skinned banana on the bird table and the Red Admirals have been sipping at it.

Lovely to see how wildlife share our garden with us and hopefully thrive on the food and shelter it provides.

Still enjoying a few flowers although a feeling of winding down is going on. Leaves are changing colour and dropping from the fruit trees. Seedheads are looking lovely on the clematis.

Beneath the Acer the Colchicum are flowering. I think they’re a bit early. Although they flop their delicate pale mauve flowers look beautiful in the dappled light.

Here’s a poem I wrote a couple of years ago, inspired by the end of Summer as the days shorten and Autumn approaches.

Changing Seasons

The fragrance of the damp earth
Mingles with each fallen leaf
And lavender wafts its sweet scent
Now Summer's days are brief.

The wasps are feasting on the fruit
Which drops upon the ground
And butterflies with their dainty tongues
Sip without a sound.

Toadstools, mushrooms, instantly appear
Spontaneously in the night,
Their ever fascinating forms
A strange but pleasing sight.

Blackberries glisten in the hedge.
Despite their ripping thorns
They're gathered eagerly and eaten
As early Autumn dawns.

Each season has its pleasures
And Summer's soon will end
But another one will take its place
and our melancholy mend.

With you again in a couple of weeks. I hope you have a bumper harvest in your garden and enjoy all that the season has to offer. Bye for now.