greentapestry : August Musings

Saturday 22 August 2020

August Musings

 

"There is no question of me trying to reform my reaction to the major smell that starts at the end of August to dominate the house in autumn - apples.

I was sitting down at my desk on a rather dull day when this strong mouth-watering perfume filled the room. I had no flowers on my desk. I turned my head and remembered I had bought a big bag of Discovery apples and piled them in a bowl on the window-sill, for their brightness as much as anything...... Another interesting smell that lingers in the house for some time comes from the making of crab apple jelly. It has a faint clovey tang to it. 

The elderberry with its irony smell had also succeeded to the fragrant flower. The bullaces, the sharp wild plums are brightening some hedges with their orange-red where the traveller's joy has become the old man's beard, a soft curly silver beard when the flowers have just gone over into seed.

So August is the beginning of the gathering season as well as the harvesting of cultivated crops. There are lighter sweeter smells as well from two plants that will have a resurgence now if you pick sedulously earlier on - sweet peas and wild strawberries. Mingled with these are the stringent smells of nasturtiums, tomatoes, bonfires, new feverfew leaves, poppy stalks. How can anyone, how can I think of August as a dull month?"


Photo - some of my 'Katy' apple crop 2017. 

4 comments:

  1. Better than the smells of tomato chutney-making and a trug of bruised windfall apples... �� What perfect red apples you had in 2017 - let's hope you have a good crop this year too

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    1. I don't know Cathy - I'm sure that smells good too. 'Katy' is a picture perfect apple but has been the most unreliable of my three apple trees at the allotment. This year has been an off year.😢

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  2. Those are fab looking apples. I too love the smells of fruits, and flowers. Natural smells of fresh things from the garden is one reason to pick a bunch of herbs, and have them on the window sill.

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  3. Yes Noelle - a few herbs tucked into a vase of flowers are always most welcome here 😄

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All your comments are much appreciated and treasured. I wil try to reply to everyone who leaves a comment, but it may take me a few days, especially when I start spending more time in the garden and at the lottie. I know that you will understand :) I am sure that I will also visit your blog if I have not already done so. If you have any specific questions I will either reply to them here or you can email me at : thegreentapestry@gmail.com

Namasté

- Anna.