A couple of weeks on and we certainly can't complain about not having had enough rain. More a case of now it's started it doesn't know when to stop. The pests have also been enjoying the hot muggy weather: the young cabbage plants I bought in turned out to be infected with flea beetle. I kept them well watered (the only recommended treatment) and most of them seem to be pulling away now. The rest of the brassicas are doing fine but the onions have been affected by white rot and have been keeling over one after another. Another disappointment has been the Canadian clover I sowed as a green manure. It germinated fine but then just faded away - I'll stick to indigenous varieties in future.

The early potatoes are cropping now as are the courgettes; the first row of peas are nearly ready and I've also been pulling the first baby carrots. In the fruit department the strawberries are still going and I've now got plenty of jam - thanks Pauline! Right on cue the first raspberries and gooseberries are ready for picking too. In the greenhouse the tomato plants are looking healthy and the bunches of grapes continue to form nicely - I'm really looking forward to them.

The carnations and snapdragons are planted out now so there's some colour to look forward to. I'd hoped the dahlias I grew last year would have come through the mild winter but it wasn't to be with only a couple of plants surviving. I've planted some gladioli bulbs instead and left a few opium poppies where they've seeded themselves to fill the gaps.

It's satisfying to see all the work done in spring paying off. The icing on the cake has been picking the first bunch of sweet peas.