The dry conditions has also meant no problems with slugs or snails as they hide away in whatever cool damp spot they can find. Having left the garden fallow for the past decade it was pleasing to see a healthy population of slow worms plus a mass of millipedes and a few very large old toads. Creeping sow thistle has been the only real problem with hours spent breaking up the soil and trying to remove every last trace, then digging several more times as the inevitable tiny remaining rhizomes start to regrow. The potatoes went in first in late March and look strong and healthy with hopefully plenty going on below ground. I’ve planted loads of cherry tomatoes outside and hoping that blight will not be a problem, certainly if it continues to remain dry. I had to restart the strawberry patch with fresh plants from a neighbour so there are not many this year but he has them by the bucket full and jam making is in full swing.
When trees are under stress then flowering is the first
option of survival and back in April the valley was full of cherry blossom.
When the wind came great clouds of white filled the sky and the roads in places
received a powdering of snowy petals. Unfortunately the fruit setting has been
minimal with many apple trees have no fruit at all for the second year. The
Elder trees however have been glorious and my first batch of Elderflower
champagne is ready to drink. This is the taste of summer and while my morning
tipple might be an infusion of freshly gathered mixed herbs the rest of the day
my thirst is quenched with champagne.
