Cheese

The Ministry of Food's Miracle Food No 5 was Cheese. The World War 11 Radio Doctor announced that a cheese of 20 lb contains as much nutriment as a sheep's carcase of 60 lb! The war-time cheese ration of 2 oz per person per week did not go very far - grated in a lunch-box sandwich, cooked as a souffle grilled on toast as Welsh rabbit or used as a bubbling brown sauce on cauliflower cheese or macaroni cheese.

Milk containers such as these would contain milk headed for the factory to be turned into cheese.
My grandfather, who had survived being an Anzac during the First World War, worked in a milk factory in the 1930s - hence he was not required to join the forces for a second time. 

Oatmeal

The Ministry of Food's Miracle Food 4 was Oatmeal, to give energy, protect from illness and make strong bones and healthy blood. And during the war, it had the virtue of being home grown on British soil. With a government subsidy, it cost less than 3 1/2 pence a pound to grow. Housewives were urged to use oatmeal to bulk out other foods, mixing it with flour for cakes and pastry, thickening soups with it and adding it to savoury puddings and pies to make the precious meat ration go further.

I was a post-war baby (known as a baby-boomer), and I can still remember my mother singing World War 11 songs as she worked in the kitchen. One of her favourite songs was "Mares Eat Oats" -  "Mairzy Doats"! 
  
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey.
A kiddley divey too. Wouldn’t you? Yes!
Mairzydoats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey.
A kiddley divey too. Wouldn’t you?
If the words sound queer, and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey.
Sing: “Mares eat oats and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy” Oh!
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey.
A kiddley divey too. Wouldn’t you — oo?
A kiddley divey too. Wouldn’t you?

HOW CAN I APPLY THIS TO MY LIFE?

Porridge for breakfast will continue to be my healthy breakfast choice in our Australian winter, 

whole rolled oats, and not the "instant oats".   Cooked in a saucepan with water (1 cup water to 1/3 cup oats), then adding a little salt, and stirring in some milk and a dribble of honey or golden syrup.  

I will most certainly start to make Flapjacks as a snack:

55 g/2 oz butter or margarine, plus extra for greasing; 115 g/4 oz golden syrup; 55 g/2 oz demerara sugar, 225 g/8 oz rolled oats

*Preheat oven to 180 degrees C; Grease 8 inch square, shallow cake tin.
*Melt butter, syrup and sugar in a saucepan
*Stir in the oats and turn the mixture into the cake tin, spreading it evenly.
*Bake 30 -35 mins in a preheated oven.
*Take out of the oven and cut into square or rectangular pieces immediately, leaving in the tin until completely cold before removing.

I might even consider setting aside a patch of our suburban garden to try growing some oats, just for fun! 

But one thing that I really should do is a bit more singing while I potter around the house!

Growing Greens - herbs and salads

The Ministry of Food's Miracle Food 3 was Greens!

Salads of raw cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and young dandelion leaves were advocated along with watercress and mustard and cress - but lettuce and cucumber were considered to be "practically useless for vitamin C. The Radio Doctor gave sound dietary advice to eat something raw and green every day.

HOW CAN I APPLY THE ABOVE INFO TO MY LIFE?

The following are some of the plants I intend to grow in the coming year, complementing the herbs that already grow semi-permanently in our garden......

*A variety of chicory growing in the garden will be one of my challenges for the coming year. Being deep-rooted plants adapting to a wide range of soils from light sands to heavy clay, and being able to thrive in either the wet or dry or exposed situations, I should have success with chicory.

While the majority of chicory are grown for their leaves, some are cultivated for their roots and shoots. I look forward to a new experience of using edible roots - white and tender - either eaten raw (chopped or grated in salad), or cooked and eaten cold. With roots being moderately hardy, I should be able to lift them throughout the winter for a healthy winter vegetable. And with continual sowing through spring and summer, there should be a continual supply of chicory over many months - even throughout the year in Queensland's mild climate.

*Oriental brassicas such as Pak choi accept cut-and-come-again harvesting so are a good addition to the home garden.

*Leaf beets such as Swiss chard and perpetual spinach will be eaten both raw and cooked.

*Dandelions are already growing in my garden with their flowers, leaves and roots all being edible.  I will use the root tops sliced raw in salads and the young leaves raw in salads or sometimes boiled if they are tasting bitter, with the flower petals tossed raw into a salad or  even pickled in vinegar and spices.
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.htmls

*Fenugreek is a hardy legume and I have sometimes bought fenugreek seeds to make my own healthy sprouts.... so now is the time to have a go at growing  my own fenugreek for the first time! Or at least buy some more seeds for sprouting. 

*Celeriac - a turnip rooted celery - is good in salads raw or cooked, and I have often used the stems as "celery" with a cut-and-come-again harvesting method without even using the root!

*Tomatoes are a continuous picker over many months in our garden. This coming year I hope to grow enough to also make chutneys, sauces and bottled tomatoes.

*Sweet peppers provide an addition to hot and cold dishes, plus the chutneys. I will grow a few sweet peppers interplanted with French marigolds to discourage some garden pests.

War-time Root crops

Sugar beet farming was particularly important during the war years. After World War 1, this industry had been subsidized by the government, and at great cost to the British taxpayer,  it continued to be subsidized during World War 11. During the years of rationing, the weekly sugar ration (with the sugar coming from the British sugar beet) was 12 oz per person. 

Sugar beet is particularly resilient to drought as beet sown early in spring would develop a deep taproot capable of drawing moisture and  nutrients up from the subsoil. Sugar beet  roots were pulled up by hand and topped and tailed with a special knife. The tops were originally ploughed back into the soil as a green fertilizer, but in 1940, the tops began to be used as feedstuffs for livestock.

Root crops were promoted by the Ministry of Food as Miracle Food 2, and carrots were right there in the forefront, with recipes such as Carrot Hotpot, Carrot Croquettes, Curried Carrots, Carrot Fudge, Carrolade (a drink combining carrot juice with the juice of Swedes) and Carrot Marmalade.

BBC Radio Home Service broadcast "From the Kitchen Front" every morning for 5 minutes during World War 11. One broadcast in 1941 talked about mixing jam with grated raw or cooked carrot so that the jam could go further.

Swedes, turnips, celeriac and parsnips - all to be grown in home gardens - were used in soups and stews, or they were cooked until soft and were perhaps mashed together with an equal amount of boiled potatoes keeping the Wartime families healthy.

HOW CAN I APPLY THE ABOVE INFO TO MY LIFE?

I  already have a few sugarbeet plants in my Queensland garden, and look forward to experimenting with how to use them - perhaps I will even be able to make a little sugar!!  

Next season I won't plant them so close, as the root can grow to the size of a person’s head! 

I will have to turn to internet sites such as this one to learn how to grow and use my sugarbeets. 

http://www.myfarmfood.co.uk/manchester/food/from_the_farm/crops/detail_where_does_half_of_our_sugar_come_from.asp

I look forward to being creative with using carrots - finding my inspiraton from the links below. 

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/ww2kitchencarrotswatermark.pdf

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history4.html#broadcasts

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/ww2kitchencarrots130441wmk.pdf
http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/WW2%20Kitchen%20Front%20Broadcasts.pdf

The humble potato

Farm land as well as market gardens that had previously grown flowers became vegetable patches for the humble potato, the food that was the favourite vegetable of the Ministry of Food.

Certain foods were promoted by the Ministry of Food as foods essential to good health, especially for children. The campaign to promote potatoes as a substitute for bread was a great success, with 60% more potatoes being eaten by the end of war that at its start.

The cartoon characters of Potato Pete  and his friend, Doctor Carrot along with adaptations of traditional
nursery rhymes aimed to get adults and children to both enjoy and value vegetables.

Potatoes new, Potatoes old, Potatoes in a salad cold;
Potatoes baked or mashed or fried, Potatoes whole, potatoes pied;
Enjoy them all including chips Remembering spuds don't come in ships!

The Ministry of Food provided information leaflets on Miracle Foods, namely the potato, roots, greens,  oatmeal and cheese.

One of the ministry's recipes presented in their Food Facts was "Potato Floodies", which really was a potato fritter.

Potato Floodies
4 medium-sized potatoes; 4 tablesp plain flour; 4 tablesp chopped mixed herbs (optional); dash of cayeene pepper (optional); 4 tablespoons of dripping or vegetable oil; salt and freshly ground black pepper

*Peel the potatoes and grate them in a bowl.
*Add sufficient flour to form a stiff batter.
*If you are wanting a "savoury dish", season with salt/pepper and herbs.
*Heat a little oil in a frying pan, and drop heaped tablespoons of the mixture into it. Turn when brown - cook about 4 mins each side.
*If you are wanting a "sweet dish", serve with a little jam or lemon juice & sugar.

Potato Pastry
175 gm self-raising flour; pinch salt; 70 gm cooking fat or butter; 55 gm potato (peeled & grated); 1 -2 tablespoons ice-cold water.

*Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
*Sift flour & salt into a large bosl and rub in the fat/butter. Then add the potato and mix. Add enough water to bind the dough.
*Roll out on a floured surface and line a 23cm flan case. Prick the base all over with a fork.
*Bake for 15 mins until golden brown.

Here is a filling for a War-time Mock Apricot Flan:
Grate 450 gm young carrots and simmer in a saucepan with 4 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons plum jam and 1/4 teasp almond essence. Simmer until a soft pulp is formed (perhaps for 1 hour). Spread the mixture onto the cooked pastry case. Melt an extra 2 tablesp plum jam with 1 tablesp water and use it to glaze the tart.  

HOW CAN I APPLY THE ABOVE INFO TO MY LIFE?

Now is the time for me to be serious about growing potatoes.  I agree that there is absolutely nothing like the taste of a small new potato boiled just after it has been carefully prized from its earth mound – and it is ever so many years since my last tasting of a "new potato"!  Seeding potatoes can be quite expensive – it is much cheaper to buy several varieties of potatoes from the local supermarket, writing the name of each variety on paper and popping the potato’s name in the bag before heading for the check-out. Then I will need to plan where the different varieties are planted, labeling them carefully so that I will know their identity and how each of them is best cooked.  

Growing food on every inch of land

The friendly Mr Middleton, also known as “The Wireless Gardener” during World War 11, gave Sunday afternoon radio broadcasts which continued throughout the war, playing to enormous audiences. In actual fact, Middleton’s home garden had plenty of pests and the weather was frequently not in his favour for growing vegetables, but it was his advice that helped millions of British home gardeners get the best out of their plot of land, growing their runner beans, beetroot, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions etc.

People were encouraged to dig up every available scrap of land and grow food on it. And so, the front and back gardens were dug up, along with the roadside verges, the railway cuttings, the public parks, the school playing fields Many families worked together on their "allotments" - here are some images from that time.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=world+war+2+allotments+&qpvt=world+war+2+allotments+&FORM=IGRE

HOW CAN I APPLY THE ABOVE INFO TO MY LIFE?

I am fortunate that I don't need to relinquish every inch of our garden to vegetables! 
I can keep the lawn!
 But in my venture towards a greater level of self-sufficiency, I will certainly be increasing 
the size of the vege garden, along with taking an interest in growing some fruit.  

Mechanization

The War Years were years of unprecedented mechanization. Even before World War 11 broke out, the government was planning for Britain’s survival – and it already had 3,000 Fordson tractors in reserve, such was their foresight!

Tractors became a feature of all farms, and in the war years, they were transforming the landscape. With farmers working by starlight and by lamp, these tractors could work 24 hours a day.  Along with the tractors, there was the gyro-tiller, the prairie-buster and the rotary cultivator – these machines exploiting the marshes, the hillsides, the bogs and the heath. All of the countryside was taking on a new face. Never again would it be as it had once been!

HOW CAN I APPLY THE ABOVE INFO TO MY LIFE?

Currently we use a car, a petrol lawn mower, a chain saw for cutting our winter wood, an electric pressure hose to clean outside walls and paths, plus a multitude of mechanized tools and household equipment. An addition that we might consider would be a mulcher, but in the meantime, we can continue our composting by cutting up greenery with secateurs or running over it with the lawn mower to reduce it for the compost heap. 

Does the land need to be drained?

Poor drainage was the major reason for a good deal of land in Britain being unsuitable for growing crops during World War 11. The challenge of improving drainage of fields was met with the use of a drain plough or mole plough, a bullet-shaped plough that drags through the ground at a depth of around 40 cm, leaving in its wake a small channel that allows water to drain away. Such ploughs, while they proved to be difficult to master, were particularly suited for areas where there was heavy clay subsoil.  

HOW CAN I APPLY THE ABOVE INFO TO MY LIFE?

Fortunately our suburban block is well drained. However, two of my friends had to drain their block by digging channels and burying perforated plastic drainage pipe. Happy digging if you are one of those people who need to improve your drainage! Have a look at this link for some tips. 

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/landdrain.htm

The need for high protein content in food

The Ministry of Agriculture fought to defend livestock farming during World War 11,  but the Ministry of Food emphasized that acre for acre, it was crop production for human food that provided a better yield than fodder crops for animals. And so it was that the government made farmers turn large areas of grazing land over to land for food crops for Britain's people. Dairy cows were generally safe, but it was not a good time to be a pig or a chicken! Sheep numbers overall fell by as much as 42 % during Britain's time of need to get the most out of their land. 

HOW CAN I APPLY THE ABOVE INFO TO MY LIFE?

Well, I really wasn’t planning on getting a pig, a goat or a cow as I feel that my life would be more constrained if I had livestock to tend to. Not like my second son who one day would like to raise some pigs or my friend's son who already has a few pigs! Instead, my aim is for some of my home-grown vegetables to be ones with high protein content ... such as beans, spinach, cauliflower, okra, broccoli, asparagus, and yes – even comfrey.

Vegetable (100 grams)	Protein (g)
Asparagus	3
Aubergine	1
Beetroot	2
Broccoli	3
Brussel Sprouts	3
Cabbage	1
Carrot	0.5
Cauliflower	3
Celery	0.5
Cucumber	0.5
Fennel	1
Leek	1.6
Lettuce	0.7
Mushrooms	2
Okra	2.4
Onion	0.7
Spring Onion	2
Parsnip	1.5
Peppers	1
Pumpkin	0.5
Radish	0.7
Spinach	2
Swede	0.5
Sweet Corn	2.5
Tomatoes	2
Turnip	0.8
Yam	2

http://www.weightlossforall.com/protein-vegetable.htm

Some examples of high protein vegetables include a varied quantity of beans, grains, nuts and seeds. Protein contains essential amino acids, often referred to as building blocks of the body. In reality, our body is in need of amino acid and not protein. We need twenty different varieties of amino acids - nine of which our body cannot produce.  Therefore the amino acid content of protein rich vegetables is absolutely essential for our body.

Soybeans, quinoa (a grain), and spinach are some examples of high protein vegetables. However, not all protein rich vegetables have all essential amino acids. For instance, grains have low Lysine content and legumes have low Methionine content in comparison to some other vegetables having considerable protein content.

The basic idea is to combine low protein contents with the high ones for the combination of amino acids. http://www.massgrown.org/high_protein_vegetables.html

Our bodies only produce what is known as the non-essential amino acids (NEAA). The other amino acids, known as the essential amino acids (EAA), which the body cannot produce, must be supplied from diet and/or supplements. These include the following: Tryptophan, Lysine, Methionine, Valine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Threonine and Phenylalanine. 

Eggs, dairy, meats (including fish and poultry) and soy are examples of complete proteins that contain all the EAA and NEAA and can supply all amino acids/protein needs.

Below are a list of the essential amino acids and sources of foods that contain them:

• Tryptophan: dietary sources include chocolate, oats, bananas, dried dates, milk, cottage cheese, meat, fish, turkey and peanuts.
• Lysine -  dietary sources include green beans, lentils, soybean, spinach and amaranth.
• Methionin: dietary sources include fish, whole grains, and dairy.
• Valine (a Branched Chain Amino Acid AKA BCAA): dietary sources include dairy products, grain, meat, mushrooms, peanuts, and soy proteins.
• Leucine (BCAA): dietary sources include cottage cheese, sesame seeds, peanuts, dry lentils, chicken, and fish.
• Isoleucine (BCAA): dietary sources include eggs, fish, lentils, poultry, beef, seeds, soy, wheat, almonds and dairy.
• Threonine: dietary sources include dairy, beef, poultry, eggs, beans, nuts, and seeds.
• Phenylalanine: dietary sources include dairy, almonds, avocados, lima beans, peanuts, and seeds. http://www.sharecare.com/health/protein-diet-nutrient/body-make-amino-acids-need

Increasing the amount of land for agriculture

Self-sufficiency & Survival

The year 2013 began with my New Year Resolution to write a One-Year-Blog, and this is the last month of that blog.  I have travelled through the year with readers from many different countries including as Australia, USA, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, United Kingdom, South Korea, India and Malasia. A special "Thank You" to each one of you who have given this blog over 6,000 page readings over the past 12 months! I enjoyed writing the blog for both you and for me!    

The blog – House & Garden Plus -  began with my long-lived passion to reach a greater level of self-sufficiency in my own life.  January and February blogging covered the medicinal and culinary uses of many of our current garden plants, and ensuing months covered a variety of topics that took my interest, a new topic each month. December brings us back to my initial focus on self-sufficiency and survival by looking at Wartime Britain, hoping that with a glimpse of the skills and the spirit of those who survived great challenges, we will gain knowledge that can help us to be people with both fortitude and faith along with a greater ability for self-sufficiency and survival.

At the outbreak of World War 11, 70 percent of all food consumed in Britain was imported. Such a level of imports could not continue during the war, so the nation was forced to learn very quickly how to produce food in its own backyard to feed a population of nearly 50 million people!

How was it that the people of Britain did not starve during the war years, as did the people of Germany and Russia?

5.6 million acres were added to the acreage under agriculture in Britain from 1939 to 1944,  and  innovative measures and advances in the use of farm machinery were applied across the land – all planned and implemented by Britain’s Ministry of Agriculture. 1,400 of the 300,000 or so farms in England and Wales were acquired by the government for better farm production, and the remainder were farmed by the local communities and England's war-time Farm Girls. Farming communities created a united front to feed the people Britain – those at war and those at home. Cabbages were even planted at Kensington Palace and in the moat of the Tower of London! Every bit of land in Britain – farms, fields, parks and verges – began to be cultivated so that the nation could become self-sufficient. And even German and Italian prisoners of war who were held in camps were delivered to local farms by truck each morning and collected at teatime, so that they too could make a worthwhile contribution towards Britain's survival.

HOW CAN I APPLY THE ABOVE INFO TO MY LIFE?

More than 70% of the food consumed in our household in Queensland, Australia, comes from the shop rather than our suburban garden of around 1/3 of an acre. While we do grow a few vegetables and herbs and have some young fruit trees and vines, I can start to prepare more of the ground for the cultivation of salad plants and green vegetables, peas and beans and root crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, yacun http://growwhatyoucan.co.uk/yacon/yacon.html, turnips and carrots.  As a beginner gardener, at this stage, I aim for success in smaller areas in our back garden that I feel are inviting me to dig them over - 

rather than being extra enthusiastic and digging up the whole lawn! 

Just as many people who survived World War 2 remember it as a time of hope and a time of pride, I hope that I will be able to apply the same intrinsic sense of hope and pride in our garden.

THE ELEVENTH MONTH COMES TO A CLOSE

GUEST OF THE MONTH - David

Autumn is my favourite season!

Seen from a perspective of being in the U.K., autumn is often regarded negatively as the season that brings to an end an idylic summer, and the precurser to the cold winter ahead.

Autumn is a season of change - a season of quiet misty rains, of glowing golden colours of falling leaves, of birds meeting together in noisy flocks to then accompany each other on their annual holidays! Autumn is the time for squirrels to scamper through the leaves, collecting acorns and hazel nuts for their winter nourishment. It is a time for children to hunt bright shiny conkers for their rutualised games, subjecting their discoveries to secret hardening recipes for the fight to the bitter end. The farm workers on tractors draw behind them the tools for the harvest. The fields reverberate with the rattle of the diesel engines as crops are gathered before spoiling rains or first frosts arrive. Hedges are trimmed, ditches scooped clear and trees pruned. Those with the "know" forrage for their own delights of rose-hip, blackberry, sweet chestnut and a variety of hidden fungi. Then there are the weather changes when violent gales and lashing rain send everyone to shelter, and cold winds burn the face and hands. 

Once the work of autumn is done, a stillness settles. Magpies chatter in the woods, rain drips to the forest floor, and leaves continue to fall - all heard by the discerning ear. The robins who have remained chirp clearly on a still air. An aroma of compost rises from the ground, pungent yet pleasant.

Autumn is a time to rug-up warm with coats, scarves and boots. A time to stand entranced as the mist swirls amongst the trees; as the low sun beams its rays of subdued light overhead from a pale blue sky; as new vistas appear through the bare branches of once-hidden hills or church spires. 

My favourite season - Autumn!

If you are in an "autumn-season" of your life, or if you are living through the actual season change in your country, it is my prayer that you are finding the same enjoyment as David obviously is! 


from Robyn 

painting of robin by Brenda, Robyn's mum

Autumn flowers

 The approach of winter does not mean that flowers cease. 

Indeed, autumn flora can be just as stunningly beautiful as that displayed in the springtime.

Bare branches

Branches bare no longer care to make a leafy shade.

Autumn fruits

The fruits and seed pods of autumn hold within them
the potential to begin a new generation.

Children in parks

Children play midst leaves of red, gold and brown in cheerful parks throughout their towns.

The strong, stately autumn trees

A carpet soft with golds and browns surrounds the strong and stately trees.

The last brown leaves

The  last brown leaves clasp onto a cherished stem until a cold autumn wind makes them fall.

Squirrels

Bouncing squirrels amongst the leaf-fall pause to gather their winter hoard of acorns.

Rotting apples

The signs of autumn are seen in leaves piled high, 

rotting apples in a corner, 

and an engorged pumpkin on a vine.

Wind and rain bring an end to autumn colours

Lack of wind and rain prolongs the beautiful display of autumn colour. 

We were holidaying in Birmingham, UK in 2008 when a relative phoned us to tell us to hurry out and take some photos before all the leaves were blown from the autumn trees. 

We were so glad that we took heed, as one day, the trees were still a glorious colour, 

but the next, they were bare after strong winds and beating rains.

The best weather conditions for autumn colours

When plants enjoy a growing season with sufficient rain, 

with this being followed by a rather dry, cool and sunny autumn marked by warm days and frostless nights, 

they have the very best weather conditions for developing bright autumn colours.

An early frost

An early frost means an early end to the colourful displays of autumn.

The tannins of autumn

Pigments break down in the light or in very cold temperatures. 

When all of the pigments have broken down - the yellows and oranges, the reds and purples - 

all that may be left are the tannins, the browns in the leaves.   

An autumn carpet

Many of the autumn trees and shrubs lose their leaves when they are still very colourful - 

creating a soft carpet of various hues.

Red and purple autumn pigments

The red and purple pigments of autumn

occur because sugars are trapped
in the leaves of deciduous plants.

Autumn's yellow and orange pigments

The leaves of plants naturally have yellow and orange pigments.

Chlorophyll normally masks these pigments, but when the green chlorophyll is gone during autumn, these vibrant oranges and yellows become evident.

A blocked connection

In autumn, the connection between the leaves and the rest of their plant begins to be blocked. This all happens at the time when the daylight hours become fewer, and when the dark nights become longer.

This is the time when a corky layer of cells forms near the juncture of the leaf and stem, slowly beginning to block the movement of minerals from the roots of a plant into the leaves. It is also the time for slowly blocking the materials such as carbohydrates from the leaves to the branches.

When the connection between leaf and branch is blocked, the production of chlorophyll slows and then stops - and the chlorophyll disappears completely.

This is the time when autumn colours are revealed.

Autumn beauty in our neighbourhood

The best place in the world to see amazing autumn colours is probably eastern United States, but wherever we live, we can probably find autumn beauty in our own neighbourhood - even if we have to look hard for it!

The resistance of evergreens

Evergreens will keep most of their leaves during the autumn and winter. Resistance to cold and moisture loss occurs with special leaves such as the long thin needles of the pine and fir trees. And then there are evergreens with broad leaves  or with tough, waxy surfaces like the holly. While these evergreens are able to continue to photosynthesize during the cold weather with shorter daylight hours,
their reactions will be slower.

Resting

Autumn is the season when deciduous trees rest. They shut down their "food-making-factories" and live off the food which they have stored during the summer.

In our technological world, many of us are like the evergreens who never completely rest - well, not for a whole season like the deciduous trees do! However, God intended us to pause, to reflect, to worship - and not to be always busy. Would it be wise for us to store a little, enabling us to take time out to enjoy our autumn?

Deciduous trees as neighbours

Each month in my one year blog, I have focused on a different topic. This month's topic is Autumn.

Autumn is a glorious season for those who live with deciduous trees as their neighbours.

The amazing shades of red, yellow, orange, purple and brown are a sight to behold - a photographer's delight!

I love to wander amongst colourful leaves lying on the ground while the sun shines between bare branches,
giving to the leaves an amazing sheen.