The right of Helen Grimes to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Every effort has been made to ensure that all the information in this book is accurate. However, due to differing conditions, tools and individual skills, the publisher cannot be responsible for any injuries, losses and other damages that may result from the use of the information in this book.
First published 2024 by: Bustle & Sew Station House West Cranmore Shepton Mallet BA4 4QP
www.bustleandsew.com
WelcometotheSeptemberMagazine
Hello everyone!
Although September is one of my favourite months of the year, nonetheless it always holds for me a feeling of slight melancholy. The summer, long and eagerly anticipated, seems to have passed in the blink of an eye, and now the leaves are beginning to turn and the days are shortening rapidly as we hurtle towards autumn, the cooler months - and of course Christmas! And at that thought I very quickly cheer up again!!
I love the richness of the colours around me in September’s countryside, ochres and russets, crimsons, golds and purples begin to appear, whilst the swallows are flocking overhead and I begin to hear the wild geese calling from the lake on the other side of our village. This sense of richness and bounty is, I hope, reflected in the pages of this month’s issue, where you’ll discover flowers and pheasants, candles, crochet and plenty more besides. I do hope you’ll enjoy it.
I’ll be back in four weeks time with the October edition that’s published on Thursday 26 September os until then I hope you have a wonderful month with plenty of time for stitching!
Very best wishes
Helen xx
September is of course the first month of autumn - the word “autumn” comes from the Latin and its use in English dates back to the fourteenth century. Although it is the generally used term for this season in the UK, in the US the word s preferred. Both autumn and fall were once used interchangeably in British English. The word appears in sixteenth century texts in the longer phrase “fall of the leaf” but by the second half of the seventeenth century the shorter term was certainly in use.
Nature’s harvest is upon us now, and the hedgerows are laden with hips, haws and berries. Elderberries have been ripening since August, handing in dense deep purple clusters on their claret-coloured stems, bringing colour and richness to the countryside. They are particularly rich in vitamin C and make dark wines, jams and jelliesgood for warding off those pesky
September
winter sniffles. Well into late autumn, the elder bushes are a larder for all kinds of birds who also enjoy their
One of the earliest signs of autumn here in southern England is the sight of swallows clustering on telegraph wires, gathering for their migration to Africa. Meanwhile wild swans and geese begin to arrive from their breeding sites in the Arctic to overwinter here and take advantage of our milder winter and more plentiful supply of food.
Best known perhaps, of our autumn fruits, is the blackberry. For generations blackberry picking has been a British countryside pursuit in August and September. Delicious in jams and jellies, with apples in pies, or simply fresh picked from the hedgerows, they are one of the enduring symbols of country life.
The flowers at the tips of the mature thorny stems are the first to set and usually produce the sweetest fruits (which then of course are always just out of reach!) As the berries ripen they turn from green through red to a deep glossy black, as the transformation works its way back up the bramble.
As well as blackberries, it’s fun to experiment with different fruits (be sure you’re confident what you’re picking though), why not try making jelly from rowan berries and from wild rose hips too, as well as elderberry wine, syrup and jelliesperfect for enjoying on those colder evenings to come.WDDon’t
But don’t forget - it’s very unlucky to pick blackberries too late in the season. The final date for picking is given in some areas as Michaelmas, September 29, because by this time the Devil will have “damaged” them. The original and less polite version of how they were “damaged” probably stemmed from the observation that the berries became watery and sour after the first frost!
Probably one of the best-known poems about autumn is John Keats’ “To Autumn” which begins
But did you know it was inspired by a walk he took next to the River Itchen near Winchester in 1819? On 22 September Keats wrote to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds:
Apples are ripening now too and, whilst early varieties aren’t generally keepers and should be eaten straight away, later varieties will keep into the winter months if you store them carefully. Don’t keep any that have fallen from the tree or have other bruises and blemishes -
they’re good for chutneys, puddings and juice.
The final feast of September is Michaelmas, the 29 of the month. Michaelmas is one of the Quarter Days on which the country calendars turned - a day on which quarterly rents were paid. This day is the anniversary of the dedication of a church in St Michael’s honour, the Basilica of St Michael, near Rome.
Michaelmas is one of the four days on which quarterly rents are paid. The tradition of serving goose for dinner on this day may stem from the custom of giving one’s landlord such a bird as a gift. It was also thought that eating goose on Michaelmas Day would bring financial prosperity in the year to come. The geese were fattened for the table by allowing them to glean fallen grain on the stubble fields after the harvest.
Extract from “The Long Trail” by Rudyard Kipling
AMellowAutumn Glow….
TheColoursof Flowers
Some
thoughts from Gertrude Jekyll…
Gertrude Jekyll, garden designer and author, was born on 2 November 1843, in London, the fifth of seven children of Captain Edward Jekyll, a regular soldier, (1804-76) and his wife, Julia. In 1848, when Gertrude was five, the Jekyll family left London for Bramley House, set amidst the rural heaths, ponds and pinewoods of Surrey, 30 miles south of London. The large garden was paradise for a small girl; her vivid childhood memories never faded and were the foundation of her later achievements in garden design.
In 1861, she enrolled in the South Kensington School of Art. Part of her training consisted of copying works of the great masters. Already a talented painter, she also studied botany, anatomy, optics and the science of colour at the school. Over time however, Gertrude’s original ambitions as a painter fell away, particularly as she suffered from poor eyesight; thereafter, her artistic talent and creative drive were mainly expressed through her garden designs, though she continued to draw and paint for the rest of her life.
Her attitude towards garden design was influenced by Arts and Crafts principles, absorbed from John Ruskin and William Morris. A sympathetic relationship between house and surroundings was of the utmost importance and each individual plant was studied for culture, habit, foliage and colour to achieve a practical, beautiful and appropriate effect. And, as colour was so important, her desire for accurate descriptions from seed and plant merchants probably led to her frustrations with their descriptions of colour - described in the extract from her book “ on the following pages.
During her busy life as a garden designer, she executed over 400 commissions, ran a prosperous nursery garden business and bred new plants at Munstead Wood well into her eighties. She was a prolific writer throughout her adult life. Starting after her 55th birthday, she wrote 13 books, of which several were revised and republished during her lifetime and she contributed sections to other people’s books.
She also published over a thousand articles on the subjects in which she had expertise; they were published mostly in Country Life, The Garden and Gardening Illustrated. In 1930 alone, after she had passed her 86th birthday, she wrote 43 articles for Gardening Illustrated. Her style of writing was meticulous, practical and scientific; she paid great attention to the details of print and layout. Indeed, one of her editors said: ‘I would rather have clipped the wings of an archangel’ than tamper with any text which she supplied to a publisher.
She died on 9 December 1932, at her home, Munstead Wood in Surrey and is buried nearby in the churchyard of St John’s church, Bushridge.
It’s not Halloween till next month, but I thought we might need time to prepare ourselves as we consider - the darker side of stitching. And no, I don’t mean the back of your work haha! Sit down before you read the following sentence. Now … are you ready? OK take a deep breath and read
There will be times when you must accept you will have to unpick your work.
Yes, this happens to all stitchers. It is not good. It is not fun. But sometimes it is necessary,
particularly if the project you are working on is entirely your own design.
If you’ve planned it, drawn it out, chosen your own colour scheme and stitch patterns, then it would be a total miracle if everything went perfectly first time. But don’t be put off – if you believe in what you’re doing then it will all come right in the end.
The important thing to remember is that it is not the end. It is not disaster and you can retrieve your project. In fact for me, that’s one of the wonderful things about working with fibre and fabric, any mistake is totally retrievable.
The important thing when unpicking your work is to use very sharp scissors and not to pull on the thread (possibly in a bit of a
temper - who me? Never!) Then, when even the tiniest, fluffiest bits of thread have been removed, if your fabric is suitable, press with a steam iron which will help close the holes.
Just work through those times when nothing goes right, and you find yourself unpicking again and again, and you’ll be rewarded with the thrill of seeing your very own ideas work out according to plan, the delight of seeing your creation grow and its various come together as a harmonious whole.
It’s so satisfying to make something completely unique to you – in this age of mass production, a handmade, one-off, piece is very precious both to you, the maker, and any lucky recipient.
InPraiseof thePlum
Orchard fruits come into season during late summer and through the autumn. Last month we looked for the perfect pear, and this month brings the plum. The final part of this short series comes next month with that queen of all orchard fruit - the apple.
Mildandgolden, sweetandmellow…
This month brings the autumn equinox and the end of the growing season. I still have some produce to gather from my Kitchen Garden, but am mainly occupied clearing beds and planting some over-wintering crops (though I have to be selective, we are very exposed up here on the Mendip Hills and the weather can be too harsh for many varieties). The chickens are no longer laying so well, though their moult is over now, and, by the end of the month, I will be adding extra weather-proofing to their Hen Pen to protect them through the winter storms.
Around the end of this month you may be clearing your vegetable planting, and possibly finding LOTS of courgettes (zucchini) hiding beneath those large green leaves that need using up or preserving for future use. Courgettes can be fried, barbecued, roasted, spiralized or even grated into cake batter for a super-sweet and moist result.
The best way to grill courgettes is to cut them into slices, brush with oil and put under a hot grill for 3-4 minutes until charred and blistered, then flip and repeat. To fry courgettes, half, dice or cut into slices and fry in olive oil into charred or alternatively cook low and slow until meltingly tender. If you’d prefer to roast them, then heat your oven to 200C. Dice or thickly slice the courgette, season and toss with olive oil then roast for 30 minutes, turning halfway, until caramelised and cooked through.
If all else fails, then they can be frozen, either blanched first or unblanched, though I personally am not fond of courgettes that have been frozen finding them a bit mushy in texture.
Though the garden is winding down, if we look beyond our fence across towards the church we can see that there’s still plenty to enjoy outdoors, and hopefully some warm weather still to come. Nature’s harvest is upon us now, and the hedgerows are laden with hips, haws and berries. Elderberries have been ripening since August, hanging in dense deep purple clusters on their claret-coloured stems, bringing colour and richness to the countryside. They are particularly rich in vitamin C and make dark wines, jams and jellies - good for warding off those pesky winter sniffles. Well into late autumn, the elder bushes are a larder for all kinds of birds who also enjoy their rich, succulent berries.
As the month progresses and the weather becomes cooler and damper, wild fungi begin to appear in fields and woodlands. They come in an amazing and fascinating variety of forms and colours, such as the blue shaggy inkcap and the image from a thousand fairytales - the scarlet fly agaric, with its white spots - the toadstool with which pixies, fairies, hedgehogs and other characters are invariably depicted. Although it features in so many of our childhood stories, do beware of approaching it in the wild, as it is highly poisonous and best left alone.
ConkerTime!
Not all the fruits we can gather at this time of year are prized for their nutritional value. Conkers are the fruit of the horse chestnut tree (not to be confused with the sweet chestnut) and are completely inedible, though they can be used for making laundry soap. Their cases (seen on the right) are different to those of the sweet chestnut, being larger and less bristly.
The game beloved of children across the country probably evolved from a game called “conquerors,” which was originally played with snail shells. A variant of this game was later played with hazelnuts on strings. By the twentieth century these earlier games had almost universally been replaced by the version we now know that uses horse chestnuts - or conkers. There are many different regional variations in the rules of the game and it’s also known by different names. In some parts of the Midlands, for example, it was known as “oblionker” and play was accompanied by such rhymes as “Obli, obli, onker, my nut will conquer.”
Conkers need to be dried out so they’re very hard and tough before play, though varnishing them is universally frowned upon as giving an unfair advantage!
