Well CG I love the sound of the soup but not the cold, no I mean the so cold actually I love the cooler weather note cooler not colder and here it gets down to 4 degs too and we don't have that lovely heating under the floors like you do, but we do have a combustion heater and when the temp gets below 18 we have it going all day..as the house is up on 120cm steel stumps and all the floors are Tassie Oak no carpets here, it is freezing in the mornings but out on the back decking it gets so hot with the sun shining there first a great place to be on a chilly morn.....
So your weather now sounds very much like Winter in Brissie, where here today it is a lot warmer than yesterday when it was raining.....Cheers...MM.

I think Autumn is our nicest season, it is more predictable than spring, often finer than summer and drier than winter. The autumn leaves really do change colour and its nice to sleep cool and warm up during the day. Underfloor heating is great, he only trouble is convincing my cold blooded man that it needs turning up, so we have this jousting where I sneak the thermostat up and he turns it down. The dog, who sleeps in the bathroom loves the warm tiles. I wish I could get it extended into the hothouse now! Have to experiment with heating for there. Does anyone have a heated hothouse? We're looking at some sort of heat sink to absorb the sun from the day, but not sure how well it will work. Alternative is to use an electric heater but would prefer not to. We will probably put more rigid siding on when we are released from enforced labour up the creek.

Yes the weather does seem to have changed all of a sudden. Its not bad though, as I was getting sick of the heat.

Yes, we also had a sudden drop in temperature last night - down to 6 degrees. It was wonderful under the Doona. Today the sun is shining and its a glorious 25 degrees - the highest temperature I would like to have to tolerate. Now why was it I wanted to move to Tassie? But all too soon it will be September again and the heat, humidity & flies will start again. I love the way the garden responds to Autumn - roses are in full bloom again and the vegetable seedlings look happy to be here. Is there anywhere in Oz where Autumn is not the best time of the year?

Hi Linda

You can get some ideas about heating your hothouse from the "Four seasons gardening" thread. Alternatives are barrels of water and/or some masonry.

Helen

Yes, got to love autumn. A wondeful time of year. We've already started having frosts. Brrrr...
As to heating a hot house (sounds odd), you could try an internal trombe wall. Stack some bricks close to the glass (or plastic) but not hard up against it. They should absorb heat during sunny days and release it again at night or on overcast days.
Your talented hubby might also be able to rig up a solar heater - black plastic pipes outside in sun, pump water through during day, store in black plastic tank inside hot house - black to both absorb and release heat.
A second layer of insulation might also help - think giant rolls of bubblewrap!
Eliot Coleman in his Four Seasons Harvest, a great book by the way, adds a second insulation layer to the plants - row covers for those things in the ground (he's got a huge hot house), garden fleece cloaks for the trees etc.
Just some ideas.

Melbourne is also glorious in Autumn. We've had a few nights under 10 degrees this week, so the season has definitely changed. We're preparing the former potato bed for garlic and am about to rip out the last of the tomatoes. Roma San Marzano are still producing but everything else is finished. Harvested a few pumpkins and a couple more are on the way, finished off all the corn too.

Now what I was hoping was that the temp would stay a little on the high side as I have a gazillion capsicums to ripen. I hate the taste of green caps and there are 16 plants we put in a bit too late, with fruit that would like a bit of warmth to turn red. Eggplants are probably finished too I suppose - wow I got some beauties this year!

It has been cold here overnight in Brissie felt like about 12 degrees when I got up this morning, strange that as we don't usually get temps that low till we are well into May..So good for the garden though as the Broad Beans and Sugar Snaps peas are pushing their way through the soil which surprised me as I thought I had lost them all after the deluge we got the day after I planted them last week this is where the raised garden beds come into it a must have up here...

The Black Russian tommys look to be full size now as they dont seem to be getting any bigger and looking not so green these I will be eager to taste as the last lot were very watery and not the best..I think I will pick some of the Spring Onions today to have on a salad sandwich for lunch ....Roll on Autumn the best time of the year..
Cheers......MM.

Thanks Helen and Ray - I will only be raising seeds so its not crucial, but for another year we'll be looking at doing something.

Mabb, I too got loads of Capsicums too which didn't turn red. I suspect the late start to summer and ealry ending has had something to do with it because I got mine in quite early. I made a nice chutney with green capsicums and apples which the grandies keep asking for more. I actually have to make another batch. So if you want I can fish out the recipe if you like.