Autumn in the vineyards and in the garden

The vine leaves are just beginning to turn to autumn colours.  Whereas in summer all varieties of vine have the same colour green leaves, in autumn we begin to see the patches of different varieties, some which turn yellow, some brown, some red.  It’s the most beautiful time of year here.

And in the garden …

The olives are ripening and we’ll be picking them in a few days’ time.  The ones on the left above are Lucques, which seem to ripen later than other varieties.  The ones on the right are a different variety, but I’m not sure which one.  It’s a tree we bought in the first excitement of having the garden and we just wanted an olive tree, not worrying too much about what kind it was.

 

I’ve harvested some of the dried lavender flowers which I’ll use to make lavender bags to put in the linen cupboard.

 

 

The lettuces we planted last week seem to have settled in well and there are still a few small aubergines growing.

 

We’ve planted out some of the tiny spinach seedlings which weren’t growing very fast on the balcony, and we’re protecting them for a few days with some plastic covers our neighbour gave us.

 

 

The nights are getting colder – down to 8 degrees C – but it was still very warm in the sun for our lunch in the garden.

 

 

Lo Jardinièr cleared the cucumber and melon plants, so we have a space next to the artichokes which is ready to cover with goat manure in the winter.  We’ll probably plant tomatoes here next year.  And, once again, this time this may really be the last butterfly of the season.  Although, with temperatures in the 20s, the bees were still busy on the rosemary flowers today.