Garden: First Frost

With the temperature falling to minus two last night it is time to say good bye and thank you to all the tender plants that make the potager something special in the summer. 

Nasturtium

Tomatillo

All the peppers, chillies and aubergines are destined for the compost heap this afternoon, along with courgettes, tomatillos, cucamelons, basil plants and many others that I've forgotten.

Aubergine

Jalapeno

Some plants will just be left to break down where they are if the land is not to be used over winter; I balance the risk of potentially harbouring pests and diseases with giving a safe winter hide away to the useful bugs and beasts in the garden. And anyway, the blackbirds, thrushes and robins need debris to root around in looking for something to eat throughout the winter. With any luck they'll concentrate on the pests and leave the good guys alone.

Basil

But all is not gloom and doom, while in some years we can still be picking peppers up until Christmas, this year we can make an early start on the winter cabbages and especially the parsnips, all of which improve with a bit of a frost.

Grasses and the mountains sporting their first snowfall.