From the top – carrots in tyres, Bedfordshire champion onions, tayberries, salsify, beetroot, parsnips and celeriac and Jerusalem artichokes – and much else besides.

The garden is producing supersized fruits and vegetables and just one lettuce is enough to fill a large sink. I wash and salt the leaves at least three times to prise out any sleepy slugs but, by and large, the lettuces are bug and slug free and completely pesticide free. They also taste of lettuce!

Orpington’s the Araucuna and the baby Bantie had to move into the polytunnel with the big birds. A bit of a shock for them.

In the sunny courtyard the sunflowers are opening

and the blueberries are ripening. They taste delicious.

More quails

Old home above, new home below

An Azure Damsel Fly sitting on a rhubarb leaf this afternoon

The garlic harvest, pulled up and laid out to dry

Three young courgettes and some garlic cloves to cook in a ratatouille.

Elaine is a weaver and spinner and artist who collects our Jacob fleeces each year to share amongst her spinners and weavers guild near Cambridge. This year she brought me a skein of our wool that she had spun on her wheel. Then we loaded her car with the fleeces and set off to walk around the smallholding.

When we got to the far end of the garden we surprised a red legged partridge walking amongst the root vegetables. Beautiful plump and colourful game bird.

The battle of the nails…..Elaine versus Dianne

Click below as dog emerges from the pond

These cornflowers were some of the results – and my favourite. Anyone know what the yellow daisy like flowers are?

As I strung shallots

and watched USA beat England in a thoroughly watchable and enjoyable World Cup semi final.