my summer

June and most of July were sunshiney and at times, incredibly hot. Thank goodness, the latter part of July and the start of August have been more of what I expect from a British summer: warm-and-sunny-but-cloudy-breezy-and-drizzly. Grey sky overtakes the blue. THAT is a British summer!! I thought I'd share some pictures with you, taken over the past few weeks.

I haven't done anything remotely crafty for a long time. Even my white paint and paintbrushes have lain idle in the garage! The only creative outlet I've had is when Gorgeous Girl approaches me with her latest 'Cbeebies' magazine and asks me 'can you make this for me mum?'!

My roses did not fare well this year, but in general, fruit, flowers and veggies are doing pretty well.
In our front garden, the 'strawberries & cream' Hibiscus, and pink hydrangea are starting to flower.
Tomatoes grow in both front and back gardens. We don't have a greenhouse, so I experiment with where they grow best each year. I am totally organic, so it usually takes longer to get fruit. Because of the early hotness, we've have had some tomatoes ripen quite early for us. Normally it's mid August at the earliest when they are ready to pick.
The redcurrants are normally ruined by birds, but this year I have got to them first. My Mum has had a goodly amount, as have we. I've even managed to freeze some of them to have later in the year. My darling daughter has proven herself to have the greenest of fingers. Earlier this year she asked if she could 'grow a flower'. Instead, I got her to sow the seeds of several plants. Lettuces (all eaten), carrots (all eaten), tomatoes (doing nicely), runner beans (still producing), and pumpkins. Our pumpkins had 5 fruits, but only one remains. I have very high hopes of it. The rest shrivelled and dropped quite quickly, but this one is still doing well. I took the photo with my hand to show the size a couple of weeks ago, and the pumpkin has put on weight since then. I really am hopeful of having a decent sized pumpkin by Halloween!
We have been enjoying runner beans, carrots and potatoes. The carrots have all gone now, but I still continue to pick the runner beans and spuds. There is nothing nicer than going out into the garden to pick veggies for dinner.
Hopefully, the best is yet to come. Back in May, we bought a miniature apple tree. One that will stay small, and needs no companion. I named the tree Betsy, and am very happy to report that we have a few apples that are doing well. They will be ready for picking at the end of next month. I've got flowers on the aubergines I grew from seed, and am hopeful of getting something from those too!
If you have never tried growing your own fruit or veggies before, why not try next year? You don't need much space - our potatoes were grown in a large pot, not the ground - and there is nothing nicer than cooking homegrown produce. If there is no space outside, you can easily grow indoors instead. Even if it's just a pot of herbs, give it a go!

Even in rainy old England you can grow scrummy things!