Benign neglect

A few days holiday, and continued fine weather, has been a bit of a challenge - I lost some little tomato plants while we were away, and have resorted to buying a couple of plants of the same varieties from the garden centre. The threat of thunderstorms (which, in the end, went round us) made me rush out and build cane supports for the broad beans, which are now very tall and sturdy and flowering prodigiously - and the bumblebees are doing their stuff. The brambles which I failed to root out in the spring have started growing all over the place, and we are going to have to have another assault on them before they render parts of the garden out of bounds without armour!

Having to water every night now - but as it's light until 10 that's not too much of a burden. The great delight at the moment is the roses - Munstead Wood is in flower, and its claret gorgeousness is amazing - but the scent is even more amazing! Crocus Rose is not far behind, the first buds are breaking, and The Generous Gardener will be next - it's supposed to be growing up an arbour, but we haven't actually got round to building it yet, so the rose is still in a large container on the patio, pending planting out in its final location, together with a honeysuckle.

Something is eating the chard, and the pak choi (which has emerged at at galloping rate), so have put out beer baths the last couple of nights - which have caught a dozen or so slugs, but I suspect it's not slugs that are doing the chomping. Must sow some more salad leaves as we have eaten most of what came up so far, and the rocket has bolted. The Little Gem lettuces haven't germinated well in the raised bed, suspect the local wildlife made off with most of the seeds! And the spring onions aren't looking too bright either - don't think they enjoyed being un-watered for 5 days while we were away in Devon. And there evidently isn't enough light in the house to successfully grow things from seeds indoors - most things are spindly and pale, a marked contrast to what I sowed straight into pots or beds outdoors. The sweet peas have been a write-off, which is a pity. Overall, though, the veg isn't doing too badly, and the roses are a great success so far.

Followers of this blog may recall that a mole moved in under cover of snow - things came to a head while we were away - we returned to find 8 new molehills, and Matthew ran out of patience with the wholesale destruction of the lawn. I am very determined that I don't want the mole-catcher brought in, as I don't want it killed, so we have installed an ultrasonic mole deterrent instead - a tenner from eBay, solar powered, and so far we have had only one little hill in 3 days, which is huge progress. Watch this space...