Simply going for a walk at the moment seems like a wardrobe struggle, it can be chilly, windy, wet or boiling hot in the space of a couple of miles or hours….welcome to British summer time! I took this photo a week ago when we went for a beautiful five mile stroll but it was just like I have described - really windy and cold to begin with, hot and humid in the woods and the threat of rain at any minute, plus I got bitten by a deer fly which has left me with an itchy welt on my leg. The weather cannot take away the beauty of where we are so lucky to live though, and getting out is vital in times of stress as well as periods of being cooped up in the house. We are also grabbing any dry opportunity to do garden jobs as the weeds are growing ridiculously fast while the confused plants are a bit ‘stop start’ as the conditions change sometimes hourly, I really feel for the farmers as it must be a time of incredible worry and doubt.
In the greenhouses, things are a little more stable and a lot more productive, we have so many mini cucumbers now that every meal is something ‘with salad’ just to use them up, and the neighbours have had a few too. The various tomato plants are looking great after a slow start due to the cold weather so there should be plenty for meals and pasta sauce in a few weeks along with peppers. Our courgettes failed this time, the first year I can remember where they didn’t germinate, or began to then gave up, but outside the potatoes, kohlrabi, kale and rainbow chard are looking very promising, especially the latter now we have protected them from the sparrows! As well as netting and chicken wire there is a beautiful, festive string of tinsel which amazingly seems to be putting the birds off.
Speaking of birds, the garden is currently full of fluffy fledglings and the feeders are being emptied at a rate of knots - blue tits, goldfinches, blackbirds, sparrows, cole tits, the list goes on and it is such a joy to know we have provided a safe place for them to nest and breed. A slightly untidy garden is a haven for them, frogs, pollinators and insects so even if the flower beds and lawns are orderly, we don’t need to worry about the wilder bits for that reason.
So, as the summer solstice approaches this weekend, I hope that there is plenty of summer left, and that it will give us some warmth and sunshine late into autumn, the wheel of the year keep turning and I love all that it brings regardless. I am off to the Isle of Wight Festival in a couple of days so will update you when I return!