Tuesday 31 May

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Every so often, I treat myself to a trip to my local nursery, Combe Dingle. For a reason too boring to go into here, I didn’t sow any tomato plants in the spring so I stock up on black cherries and Italian plums. Some I put into pots to put by the back door, against my one south-facing wall, along with a glossy, sprawling rosemary and a pinkly flowering thyme. I have no idea why I bought more thyme. I have lots already. I cannot be the only one who buys plants with reckless abandon.

I am attempting tomatoes without the plastic of growbags. Wish me luck.

Thursday 2 June

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Blissful, wall to wall sunshine. I work for me on Thursdays so I didn’t do anything particularly different today but bank holidays always feel different somehow. Pizza in the field at the end of a day of planting up pots and containers in the courtyard. We have started to burn the oven much hotter recently, up to 500 degrees, which meant that not only did we get pizza in about thirty seconds, but also that I could char some bones to make some WCAP (Water Soluble Calcium-Phosphate). Recipe book coming soon, but I just need to boast a little bit about how well it worked. Perfect black charcoal-like substance that came apart in my hands. Mixed with vinegar and left to cure for a week, I will soon have a mineral rich foliar spray to boost my plants just as they start to flower.

Friday 3 June

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If you are anywhere near Somerset and you like lunch, I do strongly suggest you head straight for Pip’s Railway Carriage. I took my entire family there today and missed Naomi of Collate by about ten minutes. If that isn’t a strong enough endorsement, I must tell you that we ate lentil strudel, charred broccoli with black garlic aioli and crispy fried smashed potatoes with wild garlic and chimichuri on the lower deck of the bus, and it was delightful. It was so busy we had to park in the overflow car park which also meant I got to swoon with envy over their polytunnels. Overall, a wonderful trip out.

Saturday 4 June

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I know it is ridiculous that it has taken me so long but I finally got around to watching Kiss the Ground. I agree with everyone who said it was highly problematic in terms of the lack of any form of diversity, but I did find it very helpful in explaining the carbon cycles and the role of microbes. I also finally fully understand what sequestering carbon means, as I had been too embarrassed to ask. I also now understand why I have to spend so much of my time weeding.

If you haven’t seen it yet, then it is less than a pound to rent on vimeo, and it is worth that just for the graphics of the carbon release mapped from space. I promise that you’ll never pick up a spade again.

Sunday 5 June

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It is raining. A biodynamic fruit day though and so I plant my squash in the wet. The second wave of peonies, the whites, have arrived. I harvest them all in the rain, because they will be ruined if they are left. Maybe these are the third wave. Does a single Buckeye Belle being in full flower count as a wave? I do love them.