This afternoon I excavated a horrible overgrown bed in 'the orchard'. It was covered in meadow grass and couch and had been bothering me for weeks. After attempting to lever the tussocks out with a fork, I gave up and cut them like turf with a spade. Boring but effective, and created enough space for three new crowns of rhubarb (Early Champagne) all planted in a hole filled with composted weeds. Any empty spaces among the fruit trees got a sprinkling of either: red clover, poached egg plant or phacelia. I also picked about a dozen slender stems from an established crown. I saw my first bee of the year, and a wasp, and the pond is full of frog spawn.

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Earlier in the day I'd picked some nettles for soup. Elsewhere the perennial herbs have put on enough growth to harvest: thyme, winter savory, hyssop, fennel, chives, french tarragon, rosemary, bay, sage and marjoram all on offer. Less edibly, the lavender, valerian and pulmonaria are all off and running.

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In the greenhouse it was over 28 degrees. I potted on some purple cauliflower from 3" to 5" pots and, for the first time, everything needed a proper watering.