Autumn looks beautiful in photographs. Pumpkins in the sunshine, mist over the meadow, a yellow leaf caught in a spider’s web. I stop to photograph all of it.
Then I put the camera down and pick up the rake again.
Here at Six Blocks, getting ready for winter involves a long list of ordinary jobs. Harvesting the last vegetables. Cleaning things before putting them away. Finding somewhere to put them. Preparing places for the cats to shelter. Carrying wood indoors. And raking leaves, over and over again.
Living beside the woods means that the changing seasons are part of our everyday life. In autumn, they also decide quite a lot of what needs doing next.
The harvest is only the beginning
There is something satisfying about seeing the vegetables together after months of growing: crates of carrots and beetroot, onions gathered into braids, pumpkins lined up beside the terrace.
But pulling a carrot out of the ground is only one part of the job. The harvest needs cleaning, sorting and preparing for storage. What looked like a few remaining tasks in the garden becomes more work once everything is out of the soil.
We use both cellars, putting some of our harvest in one and some in the other. Everything has to be carried there and given a place.
The last tomatoes come indoors too. Spread out on newspaper, at different stages of ripeness, they take up space while the beds outside are being cleared. For a while, the growing season seems to continue inside the house.
Getting ready for winter: finding room for everything
Hoses, outdoor furniture, tools and garden equipment all need attention before winter. Everything needs cleaning and putting away.
The part that sounds easiest — putting things away — often takes more thought than expected. Where will the furniture fit? Where can the equipment spend the winter? How do we arrange everything so we can still reach what we need?
Having a small house does not make the chairs or the garden tools any smaller. Finding enough room for all the things we use outside is its own autumn task.
The terrace gradually changes too. Leaves collect on the chairs where we were sitting in warmer weather. Eventually, it is time to clean up and make room for the next season.
The leaves keep coming
If I had to choose one job that defines autumn here, it would be raking leaves.
There are leaves on the grass, along the paths, on the terrace and in the furniture. I rake them into piles, fill the garden bag, carry them away and come back for more. Above me, the trees still have plenty left to drop.
You can finish an area and enjoy the result for a little while. Then the wind picks up.
At least the leaves have somewhere useful to go. We put them into the garden beds and onto the compost. We also use them around the little trees to help protect their roots from the cold.
So the same leaves that keep me busy are part of preparing the garden for winter. I appreciate that, even when I am filling the bag again.
Getting the cats’ places ready
Winter preparations include the cats, of course. Their little house and the cellar they use need to be cleaned and made ready for the colder months.
It is another part of the seasonal routine: checking their spaces, getting everything in order and making sure they have somewhere sheltered to return to.
When you share your home and garden with cats, their winter arrangements belong on the list alongside your own.
Bringing the wood indoors
Getting ready for winter also means preparing firewood and carrying a supply into the house.
A stack of logs makes a lovely photograph. Getting the wood there takes a few more journeys than the photograph shows.
Still, there is a particular satisfaction in seeing it ready indoors. It is one of the jobs whose result you can keep enjoying after the work is done — especially when the weather outside turns cold and wet.
A pause before the next job
Somewhere between the harvesting, carrying, cleaning and raking, I still stop to look around.
There is mist hiding the meadow. Tiny drops of water hanging from a web. The last warm light falling across the garden. These moments happen on the same days as the full bags of leaves and the muddy gloves.
I like having photographs of both. The quiet views are part of life here, and so is the work of looking after the place.
Little by little, the harvest finds its place, the equipment is put away, the cats’ spaces are ready and the wood is indoors.
The rake stays within reach a little longer.
