Ruby Red Race

At the allotment, everything is growing like crazy, including the weeds. I have been focusing on gathering our growing hoards of soft fruits. The Strawberries have provided us with a great crop. the Red Currants have also had a good year and I have deployed nets to thwart the birds.

Our Summer Raspberries are going great guns; the superbly tangy Loganberries (a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry), which I planted last year are ripe right now. The juicy, sweet Tayberries, a slightly different cross between a blackberry and a raspberry are just ripening too.

It's like a delicious red race and there is so much bounty and so little time that I tend to simply pick as much as I can of everything and lob it all in the same box (or my mouth). Those that make it home are made into family favourites Clafoutis or Summer Pudding!

Cherries in our garden are also ripening on the trees and it is always tempting to eat them early when they are red but it is better to wait until they turn black, as long as you can keep the avian hoards at bay.

This year, at the allotment, I decided to create a wild-flower garden patch by collecting seeds from poppies, cornflowers and other things that took my fancy last year. It has been a real success and is already looking absolutely lovely.

Strawberry Powered Bike Rides

This year's Elderflower Cordial has been Pasteurised and safely bottled, thanks to my daughters efforts.

At the time I was too busy, brewing up a double batch of Elderflower Champagne, it always seems to go too quickly.

We had a blissful half term holiday, camping and cycling in France. We did not realise initially, but it was the week before the D Day 75th anniversary, and there was a great deal of preparation going on. 

We spent most of our time on our bikes; the French do know how to make perfect cycle paths and networks. We would cycle from one town to another, along peaceful, nature laden pathways, without a single car in sight.

On one of our cycle trips, we spotted a large patch of Wild (Alpine) Strawberries, so we called a short rest break. We proceeded to feast our faces on these delicate little juicy fruits, before setting off again, fully rejuvenated.