Anyone who has read a Melbourne based blog over the past few weeks will know that we have had a particularly warm start to Autumn. So much so that you could easily be forgiven for thinking that it was still Summer. However if you look around a little you can see signs that its Autumn everywhere. These are the Top 5 things in my garden that show me that the seasons are starting to transition.
The tomatoes are dying back:
The berries on the curry leaf tree are ripening:
My harvest baskets are filled with peppers:
I’m starting to crave big bowls of soup (particularly Pumpkin):
And Sweet potato has taken the place of the cucumber as the dominant vine in the garden.
What signifies Autumn to you?
I just wish our spring would arrive maybe it needs its SatNav updating.
If its been taking to my SatNav it may well be either stuck facing the wrong way down a one way street or be in the middle of a lake….
Autumn in the vegetable garden means peppers here also, but with the skewed seasons here, it also means that the tomatoes are hitting full production. It’s also when the dried beans start rattling in their pods. But really signals Autumn for me is the change in light, less glare and shorter days. I can’t rely on the temperature in a typical way to indicate the change in seasons because Autumn is when we enjoy some of our warmest days and evenings, and the bulk of the “summer” vegetables from the garden.
The sun here definitely has less bite in Autumn even if the temperatures are still just as high. In January you can burn within about 30 mins of stepping outside. In March/April its probably more like an hour which is far more civilised.
Pumpkin soup is definitely one of the best things about the arrival of autumn! And apples ripening on the trees, dahlias and rudbeckias flowering like mad, swallows gathering on the telephone wires before they start their migration south… it’s a good time of year.
I really like Autumn I have to say – if only winter didn’t come at its end. New season apples have to be one of my favourite things in all the world.
Dark mornings let me know its Autumn. I usually get up before 6am and can get heaps done, not now though – its dark till after 7am. I also get the urge to pull out the slow cooker, oh and Garlic planting too.
Yeah I haven’t really got my garlic planting organised this year I’m struggling to work out where its going to go.
I am not sure Autumn is here because here the seasons are told as fall, winter, spring and summer. So, after summer comes fall. The thing that signifies that fall is here is the fact that all the leaves of all the trees will change color. It becomes a magical place, especially to drive through – all the trees are full of burgundy, purple, yellow, orange, red, brown, green and in between hues.
Can those berries of curry plant be eaten?
Not sure whether they can be eaten, I haven’t and I’m not too keen to try I have to say although there’s nothing to suggest they are poisonous but they might be I guess. I plan to plant as many as I can though.
I am hoping that my peppers will ripen before the first frost! I still have some chilli plants that are to offer up their fruit, a couple of capsicums and my padron which has done nothing… I am crossing my fingers. As my summer crops other than these are non existent, my signs of autumn are that the autumn flush is evident in the beautiful growth on my brassicas, the white cabbage moth’s holes appearing, the fact that the bush seems to be breathing a sigh of relief from the extreme heat and that I need to wear socks instead of my thongs.
My brassicas are looking pretty happy too. They seem to enjoy quite a wide range of temperatures don’t they? I’m often tempted to wear socks with thongs but really it just doesn’t work…on any level….
Hi Liz, I was searching for a site on what happens to my veggie plants
when autumn arrives and I was happily surprised to see your tomato, chilli,
eggplant and curry-leaf pictures – mine look exactly the same.
I live in the S.E. suburbs and migrated from India, where these plants thrive
all year round, together with asparagus (which climbed to the first floor and was
covered with heavenly smelling blossom in December – attracting the bees).
Funny thing though, we pickled the roots – a great pickle – and didn’t eat the shoots.
Really interesting about the asparagus shoots – the blossom sounds wonderful too. Glad I could set your mind at rest about the state of your garden.
Hi again Liz, if my comment is too long, please leave out the second para.
Thanks, Jeane