Bee and Spider

I have just spent a rainy morning in the potting shed, sowing a range of salad leaf seeds. Now,  I suppose there may be, somewhere on the planet, and yet to be discovered, a spotlessly clean, spider's web-free putting shed;  mine is not that shed.
I had just finished off and, heading for the door, saw a bee fly in to become immediately entangled in a huge web. My first instinct was to free it, but my instincts are plainly not as finely tuned as those of the resident spider, who was onto the bee in an instant.

The Veggie Garden in Summer

At the start of May, I did a post with pictures of the beds and greenhouses. Here is an update, all pictures taken on 5th June 2013, just a month after the previous ones. It has been a cold spring, and you can see that some progress has been very slow, especially the potatoes and the tomatoes (in an unheated greenhouse).

The potato beds, with the 2nd earlies (on left) looking more advanced than the 1st earlies.

On the right, gone-to-seed land cress, climbing beans (French and runner) hardly showing,
but mange tout peas off to a good start. Broad beans, slower than usual in the middle. The green on the path is the pulled-up green manure for composting.

Garlic onions and shallots on the right. Brassicas on the left, where I had left mustard to grow with them,  which I had just started clearing back. The mustard had protected the young brassicas well.

Detail of young brassicas exposed after removal of mustard green manure.

Spring planted onions, spring greens and peas, all looking quite happy.

Spinach, parsnip, carrots and beetroot under the near net and more brassicas (Brussels sprouts and Tenderstem broccoli) under far net, with mustard green manure having been cleared from around them).

The cucumber plants, surviving rather than thriving after the cool spring.
Sunflowers in 2 pots in the background. Lettuce leafed basil not exactly coming on by leaps and bounds.

Tomato plants, marigolds and lettuce in the other greenhouse

The two upright-habit courgette plants looking quite happy in their pots, hardening off outside the greenhouse.

Welcome to Autumn

No, I haven't moved to the southern hemisphere, but I have just come back indoors, having walked the dog, and peeled off my waterproof and fleece hat that I usually reserve for cold days or mountains!

All the plants and trees are straining under the weight of new growth, laden with rainwater; on top of which, there is a weather warning in force for high winds, exactly what is not needed right now.

Talking of warnings, I had an email from Blightwatch, we have just had a near miss "Smith Period" - so it looks as though it could be another dodgy year for potatoes, tomatoes and the like.

It's not all doom and gloom though. We had a delicious stir-fry the other day, including from the veggie patch: mangetout peas, broad beans, courgettes and pak choi.