What makes you smile

I was working in the garden when I heard the door bell, Sharon who lives 4 doors away was standing there, we became friendly just after she moved in, she was struggling to sort a wild hedge as we walked by, we popped back home and loaned her our cutting tools, which made the task much easier. She recently got 3 hens (I am so jealous, sadly no space in this garden) and she gifted us 6 fresh eggs.

Hubby made a spiced apple cake for the first time, it really very good, he got the recipe from BBC food pages, it's very simple to make, as taste as good as it looks. As Sharon would not let us pay for the eggs we gifted her some cake. 

I dug out my Japanese onions on Saturday, they are not too big, which is just as hubby likes them, I had very few fails, these grew in half of one raised bed, about a square meter. I will leave them on this camping table to dry out for a couple of days and then store them in our garage. Thanks to Dave for the heads up on the ones to grow. 

I popped runner beans in the vacant bed, with marigolds along the edge and for now shallots in pots down the middle, once the broad beans are finished the shallots will go there. I dug the bed out, added blood, fish and bone to the soil, it was still quite dry below the surface, so I am back to watering most nights. I have redone the net on the cabbage and cauliflower plants, I have 8 of each and they are growing well. 

My first lot of runner beans are growing up the canes in this big tub, the peas are starting to grow in the second tub, I also have new potatoes in bags, two are flowering so soon time to harvest them. 

The strawberries are coming every other day, as I have said before the little net bags are really keeping bugs and mice away from the berries, the lower level of the tower has been left for the nibblers, I had my first raspberry as well, the fruits are always earlier than veg. I have bags and pots everywhere around my greenhouse, two with asters and zinnias in, both for cut flowers, I am picking a small bunch of sweet peas every few days, I keep them close to my seat inside so I can smell their sweet scent every evening. 

The flower beds are coming along, I have a few smaller gaps, I do have loads of bedding plants to fill them, as far as I can see only one plant did not return from last years purchases, so I have one bigger gap to fill, I am thinking maybe another astilbe, I already have a white one, maybe I can get a pink one, my white plant is not big enough to propagate it yet, by splitting, I might just fill the gap and split my existing astilbe later in the year and save money.