Summer bloomed the sun

winter seed, spring bud,

watered well, and from black soil

summer bloomed the sun

A nice haiku to start off. We need something nice because Disaster has struck down upon the peas, not in the usual gastropod form as you might expect, but in the form of the two miscreant horses. They managed to lean over the (temporarily de-electrified) fence and ate a half of the pea plants, and damaged a number of the remaining plants. This was a big blow to the peas, who are still recovering from their ordeal two weeks on.

   

However the garden is blooming with flowers. The peas have been flowering for months now, and I’ve had a few home-grown peas for dinner every so often. The sweet peas were taking forever to grow but they’ve finally shifted gear, and one plant has finally produced a flower! It smells great too.
The nasturtiums, which I weeded out from the polytunnel and stuck into a pot are in a flower-frenzy! They've started producing seeds already. 

 

The tomato plants are very different from the stressed out things I planted in March. A few of the plants have started flowering. I have three varieties all mixed amongst each other. I cannot tell the difference between them at the moment so it will be good to see which are which in a few weeks when they produce fruit.

I planted the courgette and cucumber plants in the polytunnel a few weeks ago and these have started flowering already. The cucumbers are a climbing variety so I have strung them up, while the courgettes will spread out around them.

   

The strawberry plants outside have ripened strawberries in them. There isn’t enough to gorge on but I’ve been adding them to my breakfast and salads. Another fruit that I haven’t paid much attention to is the blackcurrant bush. It’s really covered in berries and some have started ripening already. However there is no sign of any gooseberries or raspberries on the bushes this year, unfortunately.

  

The garden was getting a bit over grown, so much that I couldn't walk through properly. So I managed to get the strimmer working (with the help of my mum) and created paths through the long grass. Turns out strimming is quite satisfying, but makes your hands feel all funny and numb afterwards.