Walnuts and chillies

It's getting difficult to go into the greenhouse as the tomato plant in the corner is fighting its way out. I know I should have cut it back, but my enthusiasm for the greenhouse tomatoes wanes from September onwards and I'm just happy to pick what I can find and let the plants run riot. Yesterday, I made my way through the tomatoes to the chilli plants and picked all the chillies, which I threaded onto string and hung up to dry. These chillies seem of variable heat; I put one chilli in a dish one day and it's so mild we can hardly taste it so the next time I put two chillies in and I can still feel my lips tingling an hour after I've eaten.

I've seen so many squirrels carrying walnuts across the garden that I decided I should start picking while there's still nuts left on the tree. At the same time, I picked the pears before they dropped and as the quinces have already started to drop, I picked a few up from the ground. I've left the pears to ripen and the quince are sitting in the bowl until I get round to using them. I have a big basketful of walnuts so we had Waldorf salad yesterday and coffee & walnut cake for tea tonight.

 

This afternoon was glorious so we walked across the fields to see if they're ready to drill (they are) and then checked the fences in the paddock as one of the horses escaped into our neighbour's garden yesterday.  There's a broken post and some loose wire alongside their garden and further round, the horses have eaten right through one of the rails, so it looks as if there's a little fencing work to go on the list of jobs to do.