June, the young Summer

On this first day of June, our little piece of Wales is bursting with signs of early Summer. New colours and scents are everywhere. Nights are short as we are only days away from the Summer Solstice and we have removed a layer from the duvet! Wild flowers line the sides of the lanes and turn our fields into colourful and abundant meadows. The air is filled with birds singing and calling. Our sheep have plenty of green grass to eat again and are seeking shade in the fields. Their fleeces come off next week and no doubt it will be a relief for them! Our vegetable beds are filling out and we have begun our fight with the slugs who have the amazing capacity to decimate an entire bed of young tender plants! Weeds are growing at a fast rate and are keeping us busy! We are now spending a lot of time outside, tending the garden and continuing to make the place our own. We are also planning and preparing for Summer parties with family and friends.

June is the perfect young Summer when the promises of Spring have been fulfilled and all that bursts open is fresh, vibrant and full of the beauty of young life. In many of our bird boxes, the young chicks have now hatched, some are even ready to fledge. The seeds I sowed in the Spring have now transformed into young plants; they have left the protective potting shed and some are in their final growing places where they will establish themselves for a good yield – we hope! Fruit bushes are laden with swelling berries. Tomatoes in the greenhouse and the polytunnel are beginning to flower. Peas and beans are gripping the sticks and poles provided for them and beginning their climb up to the top. We have been picking fresh, tender (and very tasty) lettuce leaves every day. Hopefully, the risk of frost has now passed.

Although I have attempted to describe with words the hive of activity in the natural world around our smallholding at this lush time of early Summer, I have also included lots of photos to give a sense of all the growth that is all around us right now.