Week 46

Peak beech? Plus sausage stew, crumble and - ugh - a Black Friday deal...

Hello, I hope you have had a lovely week. Here the sun broke through the ‘anticyclonic gloom’ the fabulous term for the blanket of cloud that was pinning us all down last week. Farewell anticyclonic gloom. There have been glorious rays, low and golden, and glorious leaf colour for it to filter through. My son came home for a bit of his reading week and I attempted to get as much food and nutrients into him in one weekend by making a big sausage stew and a crumble, of which he ate most and went off very satisfied. It has all felt very thoroughly autumnal, especially as it fell during our first real cold snap. Extra socks and blankets and cosiness.

This is our community post in which we chart the little things that we have noticed or done that are particular to this week in the year. I tell you mine and then you tell me yours, in the comments. The button is at the bottom of this newsletter and it will take you through to the online version of it where you can leave your comment. At the end of the month I stitch all of your comments together into one beautiful poem of the month, just like I did in October.

Before mine, I have a Black Friday deal for you! Black Friday is a thing I have always studiously ignored but apparently it is today and… I’ve mentioned before that I am a part of a new thing called Scribehound Gardening, which is a subscription website a bit like Substack but where you get 30 garden writers for your subscription, the roll call including Alan Titchmarsh, Joe Swift, Ann-Marie Powell, Arit Anderson, Mark Diacono, Sarah Raven and…me! One of us pops into your inbox each morning and so far the quality has been fantastic, each of us writing about whatever we wish. We read the columns out at well, so if you like hearing me talk well…it might be for you. I am running a lunar-gardening grow-along there, and seeking out lots of bits of garden folklore to try out too, and the community is very lively and fun, with lots of comments and chat. Anyway, if you sign up today you can get the whole year with 50% off! So do pop along and have a look and see if you fancy it.

To business:

Peak beech?

Last year there was one week in the autumn when we were ALL talking about the beech trees. Everyone suddenly noticed them all at once, and we decided it was Peak Beech week. Well I am going to throw my local wood’s hat into the ring and say: could it be this week? Look at this beech leaf path…stunning and coppery.

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That’s it from me, except perhaps to remind you that Christmas is coming and that my Almanac 2025 is out and pretty and sparkly and ready to be wrapped.

Now over to you. What have you spotted/done/eaten/worn this week that felt particularly ‘this week of the year’? Please let us know in the comments below.