Tucking up the plot for the season | Allan Jenkins

Life on the plot is slowing with cooling soil and darkening days

That’s it. The feeding is done. The winter beds are pretty much finalised – we have chosen to leave the two hazel beans structures up till the death, for aesthetics and seed saving, so the plot will mostly settle now for spring. The last few sunflowers are skeletal, there for height, for passing birds and confused bees. We will harvest the ‘Harlequin’ seed.

There are beds of flouncing chicories waiting for frost. Soon some will colour. Another bed is studded with chard: a mix of ‘Bright Lights’, a ruby stem and classic ‘Fordhook Giant’. There are rows of baby beets and radishes in a race against cooling soil. We have patches of autumn mizuna, mibuna, a few assorted Japanese mustards and pak chois. I have hopes we will eat more than the snails.

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How to grow heritage kale | Alys Fowler

Perennial kale needs little attention and will provide year-round leaves, for life

There it hung, on a rocky cliff face that was slowly crumbling into the fine shale of the grey beach below. Despite the exposed site and bare minimum of soil, this wild cabbage was thriving, resplendent even with its dusky purple midribs and thick, leathery leaves.

It is always thrilling to meet the ancestors of our common foods and the wild cabbage, Brassica oleracea, is just that. It is the original form that gave rise to the cabbage, the cauliflower, brussels sprout, broccoli, kohlrabi and the one it most resembles, kale. It is perennial and can be found on cliffs and coasts all round the British Isles, from Kent to Caithness, Antrim to Anglesey.

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Where have asking prices increased the most since 2010?

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The post Where have asking prices increased the most since 2010? first appeared on Property blog.

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'It’s crazy good': Covid boom leaves UK furniture firms sitting pretty

British furniture manufacturers describe unprecedented sales as people spend big on their homes

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Want a new sofa delivered by Christmas? You may have left it too late, because Britain is in the grip of a Covid-related home furniture boom that has left factories unable to keep up with demand.

“It’s unprecedented,” says Peter Campbell, the finance director of Long Eaton Sofas, part of a cluster of companies in the heartland of the UK’s furniture-making industry, between Nottingham and Derby.

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How to enjoy the great outdoors in style – in pictures

From throws to fire pits … everything you need to keep cosy in your outside space as the temperatures drop

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Autumn colour brings joy to UK's growing band of 'leaf peepers'

Increasing numbers of people are discovering the pleasures of the turning of the seasons

The path above the pool garden at Knightshayes in Devon is one of the best vantage points on the estate to take in the colours.

As October marches on, the reds, yellows, purples and russets are beginning to deepen in hue and, when the clouds roll away, they gleam in the sunshine.

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Autumn colour brings joy to UK's growing band of 'leaf peepers'

Increasing numbers of people are discovering the pleasures of the turning of the seasons

The path above the pool garden at Knightshayes in Devon is one of the best vantage points on the estate to take in the colours.

As October marches on, the reds, yellows, purples and russets are beginning to deepen in hue and, when the clouds roll away, they gleam in the sunshine.

Continue reading...

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