An inspired description of the beauty of a later summer or autumn garden, by great cook and food writer, Nigel Slater. While some might see Autumn as the shutting down of summertime, the end of lightness and fun in abundance, there’s another side to it. A special kind of alchemy at play, especially in the garden and on wide open landscapes, like farms. Nigel calls this ‘A Gentle Chaos’. We like that.
“I return home from a week’s filming to find the garden at its most beautiful. Yes, I have lost some of my precious box balls, not through the blight that is ravaging the country’s buxus stock, but through lack of water. My fault for assuming there would be rainfall while I was away. The rest of the garden, however, is everything I have ever wanted it to be. A tangle of nasturtiums, a tumble of cosmos, dahlia, corn owers and marigolds, their stems entwined, their colours glowing. The light is gentle and calm, the air is fresh, yet there is a deep scent of ripeness, of plums ungathered.”
The garden is a jewelbox of oranges, golds, creams and garnet reds.
“The garden is a jewelbox of oranges, golds, creams and garnet reds. The leaves on the Winter Nellis pear are turning crimson and bronze. The nasturtiums are clambering up the hedges. Flashes of shining orange amongst the almost black green of the yew. I want the garden to stop right now. To stay as it is. A garden in suspension. But I know that nature will slowly claw it all back over the next few weeks.”
Although Nigel lives in London, we can relate. Read here.
