It’s 31 in the shade. The wind turbines are at a standstill, helicopters on the look out for fires drone overhead and this morning’s start on the olive harvest has come to a stop. The grass, what there is of it, has blanched white and turned to dust; the red soil is rock hard.

Meanwhile the roasties are never too far away from their water. They are surprisingly perky in the morning, battering down the hatch in the morning to dive into the food. But come the heat of the afternoon they collapse in a white, feathered heap. The hens are suffering too and are on strike: we’ve hardly had any eggs recently. I’ve been giving them a ‘shower’ these last few days (from the watering can!) but still they’re not laying .

Meanwhile Gordy Gordo is still getting plenty of exercise. We went to a river beach the other day though for her to have a swim – and there wasn’t enough water! Which means that still, every evening, we have to water the veg patch, fruit shrubs and trees. The irrigation system that Richard set up is wonderful but the shrubs and trees we do by hand.

The plants in the veg patch seem to be surviving despite the heat though and we continue to get tomatoes, courgettes and peppers. We’re also eating sprouts, leeks and chard. The seedling cabbage, cauliflower and calabrese are holding up, the turnips and swede are going strong as are the peas and broad beans (flowering!) but the carrots and parsnips sown in September are just not showing – nothing at all.  I’m pleased that the soil in the beds is good, the manure / compost regularly applied has meant that it retains moisture well and is a far cry for the stuff we started with two years ago. So here’s to cooler climes ahead and a bumper winter harvest.