'...Garden and trees,heel over into darkness...'

Not quite as grim as this Northumbrian lament may imply, but it has been rather wet, just under two inches in the first week of October.Strangely and worryingly, the soil just below the surface is still dry. I n my last post I bemoaned the hardness of the seedbed:the grass mix was drilled, and the wildflower seeds were broadcast. Heavy rain the day after drilling-fortunately the grass seed didn't drown, and there's now a distinct velvety sheen. Not sure about the flowers though:patience will be a virtue in this case.

The animals are still outside,though the gateways are suffering from the wet. There's still a lot of grass about, though we'll soon start feeding some hay.Plant sales are more or less over for the season,although it is the best time of year to plant  perennials people don't seem keen to get out into the garden this time of year.

We've ordered another small polytunnel to house more stock overwinter, and I've spent time dismantling redundant coldframes and building more layingout beds with the salvaged timber. My next job is to build a large stockbed where the coldframes were to maintain our stockplants, which are in danger of being swamped in the garden borders.