Swings + Roundabouts Autumn 2021

As the days and nights get cooler, it's easy to avoid the outdoors when home, but working in early childhood you can’t help but be outside and embrace all weather and seasons. Autumn is a fantastic season in the garden and a time to plant bulbs and trees and of course keep your vegetable garden growing for the months ahead. And if you don’t have space for a garden how about planting containers with autumn potted colour. Pansies, violas, and polyanthus, lobelia, alyssum, sweet peas, cornflower, cosmos or love-in-a-mist are perfect flowers for the cooler weather. Autumn is also the season for planting bulbs for spring flowering. There are many flowers to choose from including favourites like tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and freesias. Flowers help bees and beneficial insects and brightens the day over the greyer winter months. AUTUMN IN THE GARDEN If you have falling leaves they are perfect for dough gardens, collage, ephemeral art and for mulching your garden! Recent fallen leaves are more mineral-rich than manure and make a valuable resource for food gardens and making nourishing mulch or VEGETABLES TO PLANT OR SOW IN AUTUMN INCLUDE: adding to the compost bin. The trick when adding leaves to your compost or making a mulch is to shred the leaves by either running the mower over a few times, using a shredder or even getting a group of children jumping on them – that shouldn’t be hard! • Silverbeet • Kale • Radishes • Carrots • Swedes • Turnips • Broccoli • Cauliflower • Cabbage • Beetroot • Spinach • Chinese cabbage March 2021 { 34 }