I'd second that Art; I have huge numbers of mature tomato plants this year, with fruits; all but one plant was from seed and I don't have a glasshouse right now. But at the end of August, only the non-seed plant had given ripe fruit.

Today, after a 5 or 6 degree morning, two huge beefsteaks, three yellow plums and some cherries are ready to pick. 

"The tomatoes ripen fastest when the frosts are setting in?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p--E3Ld5se4

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Hi Caz;

like you, we have bowl-loads of ripe chillies but I am green about all your red toms- and I've seen pictures from other posters who have had a good tom year. I'm in the deep south, and running behind all!

As I was enjoying some for tea today, it occurred to me to set some in pots for next year and label them by appearance. There are at least five varieties including tumblers, tiny tumblers, plum toms and regular sized ones.  Some will be ones I’ve grown and others are shop bought. 

On another note, my green grapes are ripe and sweet but my black grapes haven’t completely turned colour yet. 

Suddenly, the toms are ripening faster than I care to eat them: 4 big beefsteaks- perfect with no blight; a dozen or more sweet yellow plums and a few cherries. 

The wind in the night blew over many of my freestanding tomato plants, but also blew about 100 walnuts of the tree. Opening some, a few are shriveled and black from earlier drought, but many are golden, ripe and bittersweet, the way walnuts should be. Funny how they look like little packed roast chickens when you open the shell.

I wish we had walnut trees around here as I love all kinds of nuts. I remember having an almond tree in my school playground but that was dug up years ago.  A couple of years ago we planted a community orchard on waste ground, to encourage locals to pick them for free and eat more fruit.  We should have included nuts, although hazelnuts are prolific here in hedgerows and we’re surrounded by chestnut woodlands. 

It may be too late for Scotland, but the weather message for England is to get out there and pick anything nearly ripe on Saturday before it gets blown off on Sunday!

4kg of walnuts- less than half truly ripe, fallen from the wind.

Dad has taken home a dozen green plum tomatoes, also relieved of their positions.

Nonetheless:

6 huge ripe beefsteak toms;

40+ small, sweet yellow plum tomatoes;

a similar number of chillies- habanero and thai;

2 butternut squash;

6 cucumbers;

7 fully sized corn cobs;

3 beautiful, blemish-free purple aubergines;

half a dozen baby turnips;

a dozen purple heritage carrots;

a bag load of rainbow chard;

and the usual herbs, including a glut of horseradish.

Happy harvest!

Cold night's coming up. Time to unwrap the bubble wrap and line the TWO growing rooms. Brought some plants in today as they were in bud....

I moved my big pot of chillis from the back garden into the S/W facing front porch, to guard from the cold nights.  There are still a lot of fruit on it to ripen and in past years I’ve left them on the plant to dry out, once I stop watering. That way I don’t have to think about preserving them all and I get home grown chillis all year. 

My black grapes have almost fully turned and are plump and sweet and my green grapes have almost been eaten.  My plums look ripe but taste quite tart, so I may leave them for the birds and especially as my mum in law has sent me a bag of damsons for jam making. 

Tomatoes are still ripening and miraculously stayed on the vines during the strong winds during the week.  I am regretting not growing courgettes this year, as there will be no chutney to go with the Christmas ham. Although we will be making chilli jam and that’s just as nice! 

Apples picked today at West Dean; Christmas Pearmain, Newton Wonder, Lord Lambourne, Dumelow's Seedling, Crawley Reinette, Alfriston, Bossom, Winter Queening, Falstaff, Greensleeves, Lemon Pippin, Margil, Court Pendu Plat, Tydeman's Orange, Spartan,Wadhurst Pippin and Bramley's Seedling. 

The great unadventurous British public has heard of Bramleys and was buying as much of them as the rest put together

Our local apple is Bossom, found in an old cottage garden about 5 miles away. It was very difficult to find out its history - put 'Bossom' into Google and it asks 'Do you want bosoms?' Well, not just now ...

Hi DEW.

Our old orchard had Newton Wonder, and we had a newer tree of Spartan, an excellent eater which makes wonderful apple tarts!

We have Apple Days coming up in Lincolnshire if anyone local is interested.

Stamford 6th and Wragby 7th October.

https://www.scog.org.uk/

https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/events/wragby-apple-day

Or they could visit to Newton's home at Woolsthorpe Manor. 14th October.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/woolsthorpe-manor/features/apple-day-at-woolsthorpe

Enjoy.

Roger

Great foraging Dew.

I still have a fast crop of yellow plum tomatoes and walnuts continue to fall, rather like the latter stages of popcorn cooking- slowing, slowing. Just under 5kg of walnuts in total; but the magpies and a smart little squirrel have been at the top of the old tree.

Dad has tried a crop of our rainbow chard and baby turnips and said they were OK. 

The garden has itself ripened. Took down the last sunflower heads today- I prefer to leave the seeds for goldfinches but we have teasels & other treats for them; it opened up the ground for some of the lower plants, including my baby turnips.

National Trust is putting on a lot of 'Apple Days' Rog; pressing, tasting, baking and harvesting. Nearest one to us is in Dorset

I'll try to drag the trio to the car!

I have two sunflowers growing under the bird feeders in the plum tree, so I’ve propped the heads up on the lower branches for the birds.  My green grapes have almost gone and those still on the vine are feeding the blackbirds.  The birds don’t seem to bother with the black grapes but just as well because they’re slightly later than the green ones and most are still on the vine, just nicely ripe and delicious. 

My glut of lovely sweet mini tomatoes are being shared with the girls at work. I decided they’re too small to cook into sauce as there would be too many seeds and skins.  I have a feeling there will be lots of self sets again next year as they’re dropping off the vines. 

Mum’s Bramley apple tree is also keeping the girls at work supplied with pie material. 

Ended my harvesting tomatoes today. Plants are now for recycle. Growing room now being used for winter storage,,..Of all pots big and little.. having been cleaned of course. 

Tomatoes continue to ripen in these warm conditions.

Must firm all the small shrubs that have been rocked by the winds. Also have TWO to be planted. Both variegated Euonymus.

Autumn fecundity in the garden still Caz.

I wish we had a Bramley still- it was too close to the shed in the end and although we kept a plum (now a poor provider) and a Cox, the Bramley was the most reliable fruiter.

I don’t have room in my own garden for one, although my mum in law’s orchard could supply the whole village with fruit, so we always have too much to deal with. 

Nasturtiums quite out of control. Newly planted clematis and honeysuckle now getting on with covering the fence at the bottom of the garden as intended, after finding it difficult through the drought.

A wonderful clear autumn day. Visited the bees, a few were flying. Lawn was mowable and I had managed to vacuum up a good quantity of leaves yesterday so the garden looks tidy. 2 Buzzards were mewing high overhead, visible but only just. A dodgy left eye has triple vision [cararact] so let's say 4 buzzards.

Roger

3 types of tomato still ripening; collecting a dozen a day. Finished the corn- only a few ears were proper fruit-laden cobs.

Time to make more space for the purple brussels and turnips.

Ground frost yesterday morning, but even the nasturtiums across the lawn didn't wilt, and the blue ipomea made it through.