July

July is a nice month in the garden.

 As usual my favorite inspiration and pleasure reading is from the book of Monty Don and his wife. Fork to fork . May was a disaster with lots of rain and I could not work at all in the garden. The very few seeds i managed to place in the ground was flushed away. June passed unnoticed but I did get some plants and they are now happily growing in the sun. July is the month when you can start  enjoying the garden, the heat and we do eat our way through it.  

Raspberries - they are the best eaten directly off the plant. The plants are just outside my office so it not unusual,  that I start wandering off, eating raspberries as the conversation goes on  when I receive a phone call.

Gooseberries - become marmalade. Not bad ... I should say. Happy and proud over my 8 jars.

Blueberries - I have a couple of American blueberry plants and they deliver giant and wonderful berries.  They are delicious with ice cream. 

Zucchini - too many of them at one time. So we have zucchini for lunch and dinner in every form. I love the flowers and use them lot in the pasta. Perhaps they are more decorative than tasty. 

Basel - It's heaven to make fresh pesto and eat it on a hot summer day.  I make it by hand and it has a kind of rustic texture , rather then creamy. Love it on spelt pasta.

Cucumbers - ok and fresh in the salad.

And lots of other plants are starting to look happy.

Most of all, it is the time when suddenly the green is over whelming and needs to be cut back. I am sure the plants are scared of me when i am approaching with my cutter. Some plant become lovely this season other did not work out well but as you say... a gardener never gives in, so in my other pocket there is a small notepad for notes and plans for the next year. 

I should be getting a green house for starting seeds early and not depend on the weather condition,

Gunn