July is two thirds of the way through; I have had a busy month with work, family trips away and holidays so the garden has mostly been left to get on with it on its own. Most of the month has been very hot and dry, but we have had rain this week and the water butts have refilled, just in time for the next hot, dry spell.
I attacked the hedge again with the hedge trimmer (get one, they're fun), as the brambles and ash trees were poking their heads out of the top and sides. I couldn't quite get all the way over the top as my ladder was a bit wobbly, so I popped a note through the neighbours door to apologise about the straggly bits and hoping nothing had landed their side. They were somewhat freaked out that I knew their names! They talk quite loudly in the garden.... Later in the week they were out trimming their hedges by hand, on the hottest day of the year so far, so I offered them the trimmer and built up good neighbourly relations! Go me!
There is, as ever, lots of wildlife around. The Red Admiral caterpillars in the nettles are pupating (small black cases), spiders abound, as do shiny green flies, hoverflies, blackfly on the beans and nasturtiums, the inevitable molluscs, ants, green shield bugs on the French beans, grasshoppers and various birds and butterflies. I found the corpse of a slow worm on the lawn one day. Probably due to the flippin' cats. They are still pooping and digging. Annoying. While working near the shed one day I heard a loud rasping noise, and turned round to see a wasp having a good chew on an old plank of wood. It's incredible the noise they make with such a small set of jaws, and that the chewed wood is then turned into such an intricate nest.
There are many plants in flower (see the In Bloom page and the gallery), and I have begun harvesting the vegetable patches. I have had French beans, shallots, spring onions, and lots of herbs so far. The onions are nearly ready to harvest, and the runner beans are coming along nicely. The tomatoes are setting fruit, and the sweetcorn has male and female flowers - hopefully planted close enough together to cross fertilise. I have picked and eaten the broad beans in the veg patch (boiled, then mixed with mint, olive oil and feta cheese - yummy!), and there are still some growing in the flower bed. Most of the first veg patch has been harvested, so have interplanted with some perennials as a nursery bed until I have cleared the next flower bed. The annual sweet peas fell over in a storm so I had to cut them back hard, and rescue all the flowers. Hopefully they will grow back. The wildflower bed is coming along nicely too, with a nice variety of species, which will hopefully self-seed and become even more interesting next year.
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| Nasturtiums and Salvia |
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| Shallots, Spring onions and French beans |
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| French beans, Swiss Chard, red lettuce and Sweet Peas |
