A trug half full

Activity in the garden has been restricted lately.  Weather stopped play which is disappointing but that’s how it is and we have to make the best of it.  I cannot remember a summer quite as wet as this.   I have never seen patches of standing water in the orchard.
Since we live on a hill, we are safe but there is so much water that our neighbours’ run off from their already saturated lawn has joined our run off.  Consequently, we now have a stream running down the garden path which we are trying to think of as our new water feature.

However, it was warm and sunny today.  It has not rained but the ground is still saturated and my boots squelched around the garden.  The fruit and vegetables are as disappointing as the weather.  This is not a good year for any of the root veg and the butternut squash are non-existent.  

But it is not all bad news.  Today, I achieved half trug full of delights and there is nothing like scarcity to increase my gratitude.  We may not have a glut of courgettes but there are two little yellow ones which are perfect for the pasta sauce.  The mangetout are growing very well and I keep them in the fridge to nibble in between meals instead of biscuits.  Last week we had a big bag full and I made a stir-fry and we still had some left over the next day, to lightly steam.  We ate them with some fish and our own fresh parsley sauce.

The star of the trug has to be the blackcurrants.  I was checking out the lettuces (attacked by slugs) and strings of jet black tiny beads caught my eye.   Before you could say vitamin C, I had abandoned slug hunting in favour of gathering a necklace or two of these wonderful gems.  The sun was on my back and the blackcurrants were warm and fragrant.  I spent half an hour in blissful solitude, listening to the birds and at one with nature.  Weather beaten I am not.