So this past week I checked on several plants in the garden… and noticed one of the strawberry plants was flowering for the second time this year.

Well-hidden september strawberry flowers

True, August was pretty dreadful in the Netherlands. Everywhere else it seems to have been the hottest August in years. Not here. We barely got a day without rain, which meant weeds were at their weediest and the strawberries showed they were unhappy by showing red leaves – which I pulled out, partially to let more sunlight reach the soil beneath them. Because the sun did shine almost every day, but the soil and plants simply didn’t get a chance to dry before the next hour (or four) of rain arrived.

Oh yes… the spiders are out in force, weaving their webs trying to catch loads of food before cold weather forces them to hide. So I’m less anxious to tend to some parts of the garden – I’m not a great fan of cobwebs in my face.

I pruned the plum tree in the first week of September – it was perfect weather for that. The branches had plenty of time to dry because we had absolutely no rain that week. Just yesterday I picked most of the remaining blueberries. They weren’t huge, but the bigger ones were quite sweet thanks to the sunny days in September. And now this. Does this mean I’ll end up with strawberries in October?

Blueberry with strawberry plants and parsley