The Season of Plenty

September in the Cotswolds. The hedgerows are filled with ripening blackberries, shiny red rose hips and browning hazel nuts. The golden wheat and barley fields are being harvested and the ground tilled for a planting of winter wheat. It is a time for care when driving the narrow lanes for, like as not, you can meet one of the huge modern tractors and its even larger trailer full of grain around any bend. You need to remember where the last passing place was as these large vehicles span the entire width of any lane.

The blackberries are free to anyone wishing to harvest them, provided you can beat the birds to the ripe ones. Combine them with apples to make a sumptuous blackberry and apple pie topped with a crust of golden pastry – a traditional country dish that can be enjoyed with cream or ice cream. The rose hips can be used to make a tea and are good for medicinal purposes. Squirrels will plunder the hazelnuts, so it’s another free crop that needs to be taken as soon as the nuts are ripe.

 

The weather in September can be better than August, though who knows in these uncertain years. Misty mornings and the days growing shorter whisper a warning of winter approaching.