At last the rain stopped mid-June and the sun made occasional appearances. Some seedlings and purchased plant plugs still didn’t do well in dull conditions and in the different compost mix. I think I may let the professionals do more of the seed sowing next year and just buy more ready grown!

On my nightly slug watch, which I was tiring of by the end of June, I spotted a lesser Stagshead beetle in my torch beam - I nearly trod on him and similarly gave the frog at the greenhouse door a fright. I was pleased to read that Stagshead beetles feed on rotting wood so it was worth leaving the fallen ashen tree trunk to decay nearby.

I didn’t know whether to keep feeding the birds during summer, but when it turned dry, I saw the robin scratching about for food amongst the broad beans. Live mealworms were recommended for chicks, so dutifully I ordered some. I was never sure whether the birds or the squirrel got them first, but I began to feel a bit mean as I saw the worms crawling up the side the box trying to escape! After that I reverted to dried mealworms, which the adult robin turns up for daily and all is well.

Alongside the footpath the bright yellow of birds-foot-trefoil and clear blue of selfheal shone out brightly amongst ox-eye daisies and golden goats beard (which are like small dandelions). Sadly though I have seen far less butterflies to feed on them than in previous years. Those I have seen are mostly Meadow Browns and Ringlets.

In the house, an unpleasant smell became apparent in the utility room. I eventually traced the smell to my watering can. I had filled it up from the water butt and left it outside overnight. Unfortunately a mouse had tried to drink from it and fallen in, suffering a horrid fate. Before it had started to smell, I watered my pot of supermarket parsley with it. Funnily enough, I didn’t fancy using the parsley after watering it with dead mouse!

Meanwhile, my competition potato had suffered a bit of a hiccup. There was a large dogs’ bone nestling in there, though the potato plant was still intact, so hopefully all is not lost! Apparently, the dog also checked on the potatoes in the veg plot, so when a couple of potatoes appeared on the lawn, we knew they were ready to harvest!

H.W