As preparations are made to return to school I begin to think of winter stews with barley and log fires, crisp mornings, hot chocolate and all the other things that make winter in the countryside palatable, but these things all sit somewhere on the horizon for now. The opportunity to sink our teeth into big juicy apples in the orchard and the rich and restful colours of autumn lie between us and the full panoply of winter rituals.
August is the month of harvest for farmers but sometimes rather a flat month in the garden. Roses are well past their June peak and not yet into their final September rally. Many flowering plants seem washed out, bleached through by whatever sunshine has come our way and sometimes beaten down by the monsoon that so often seems to strike in July at or around the Wimbledon final.
