August

The walled garden changes continuously, and here are some photographs from August. The pumpkin patch has spread quickly this summer. Sarah, determined to grow a monster, ruthlessly sacrifices smaller fruits. Visiting children tell us quietly that pumpkins should be orange, not yellow, but they enjoy seeing how we water it. The smaller squashes on the pergola, now lazing in their knitted hammocks, have been joined by a knitted stowaway.

Queen Victoria's Myrtle, in its pot by the shed, is in flower, as is the white crinum, which we are introducing in the white bed, hoping it will settle and spread . The Bonkers bed glows in the sunshine, as do our sunflowers, and the shady corner is lit by a lovely white hydrangea.

Up in the sunshine the Mediterranean bed flourishes without any additional watering - look at those cardoons! and Geoff's dahlia bed has exceeded our, and his, expectations, helped by our own , walled garden compost.

We are starting to harvest produce from the vegetable garden - Sarah's choice of vegetables now scrambling up the pergola was influenced by her feasting on Italian novels last winter (!) and this week's harvest looks so tempting. The potatoes are packed in pockets made from SNJ pages, and everything on these shelves can with confidence be labelled Zero Air Miles. Come and buy some to take home! They are fresh, and delicious.