A gorgeous day. The salvia ‘Amistad’ I planted among the roses has taken over! I hadn’t realised quite how big it would grow… it clearly likes the situation. Along with jerusalem artichoke flowers, tulbaghia violacea and verbena bonariensis it makes a striking bouquet – much more brash and showy than my usual dainty posies.

The red sweetcorn, so excitingly promising along the way, has sadly not been a success, however hard I kid myself…. though it did look exotic and wonderful as it grew. And the kernels did develop into a beautiful jewel colour. But not plentiful, unpleasantly fibrous and certainly not delicious. Awww….

But I think I can at last say that I have a ‘proper’ asparagus bed! The oca seems to be establishing quite well, though I have no idea yet what the harvest will be like. And the leeks, chard and self-seeded coriander are all rubbing along together quite happily.