The rain has certainly made its presence felt these last few weeks and the acre has done its sponge like best to soak it up.

Now deep into autumn the acre has taken on a new look. Leaves have turned to burnished gold on beech, silvered on willow and dusky and mottled brown and yellow on chestnut.

On Tuesday we hosted a fantastic bonfire night party! It was made special as it brought together the simple pleasures of a great fire, hotdogs, soup and bread, toffee apples, sparklers.. and a lovely group of people.

Congratulations are in order as this week Farnham won gold at the National ' In Bloom' competition and were also awarded the accolade as ' Best Town ' in the UK!

We've already surpassed the average rainfall for October and the acre is definitely incredibly muddy under foot. However work goes on apace as we continue putting the acre to bed for the winter whilst also getting new projects up and running.

Another busy week full of gardening activities; the Men in Sheds team putting up a well needed shed, The Parenting Space successfully launching a new term and the visit of the children’s group The Beavers to the garden, the highlight of the week for us though was Thursday - World Mental Health Day.

It was wonderful to see so many turn up on Wednesday, despite an overly gloomy forecast the day before which didn't come to pass!

We gathered on Wednesday to enjoy a harvest lunch together! The food, most of which had an element of the acre in it, included parsnip soup, apple cake, apple pie, potato and leek soup and roasted hazelnuts.

Only three weeks ago we were steaming under record temperatures and and now there is torrential rain! We were surprised to see so many volunteers on Wednesday, all sheltering from the rain in the cabin - optimists all.

The acre has been a hive of activity so far this summer but now it's time to take a short breather, take time to reflect on what a beautiful garden we have created and to enjoy it.