…one: we have potatoes! Okay, not such an abundant harvest as previous years but potatoes we have; most have been dug up, dried in the sun and then packed into boxes. There are still some plants to go but with the earth dried hard it’s a slow task. Not only potatoes but a wonderful crop of aubergines, plus courgettes, peppers and now the toms. Also lettuce, cucumbers (both long, green ones and round, yellow ones) and sweetcorn. There are some good-sized melons.

…two: and so we are eating a lot of our own food. It seems to have taken a long time for the summer crop this year but now we sit down regularly to a plate of home-grown, home-made food. There’s plenty of pork left and now chicken too, Richard has killed all the fat, white ones so only the nervous brown ones left.

Barbecued pork with oven roasted potatoes and aubergines followed by foraged crumble (we may not have any plums but there are apples and blackberries in the fields), mmmmm. And the chicken paella was very good too. There’s something about cooking outside that makes it all tastier.

…three: we are a buzzin’. If the high temperatures are not enough we are reminded that it’s summer by the constant hum and buzz of the bugs. Butterflies and bees and wasps (we have a couple of nests so entering the polytunnel and shed is with some trepidation) and creatures we have no idea what they are called fly around from dawn to dusk. The bumblebees are tireless. I thought they were wearing themselves out as they started to die on the lavender, we would awake to see a number of corpses clinging to the flowers or crumpled on the floor. This seemed a bit strange. Then I noticed a tiny white crab spider lurking which apparently kills wasps and bees, but not this one anymore.

This miniature shredded wheat turns out to be the nest of a praying mantid. Meanwhile the big task today is to make the annual batch of ratatouille. Richard is making mead, but that’s another story…