August

I've discovered that now is the time to harvest peas! My mange-tout were looking dead and I thought I had done something to kill them off but then I found a neighbour shelling peas and she told me that pea plants will die off now. Next year I will try sowing a second crop and see if they last longer, I have quite enjoyed my mange-tout. I have also discovered that the plums are ripening, ripening so fast that they are already falling off the tree, this is my neighbours tree that leans onto my land, I have been having plums for a few days now, I tried to pick a lot this morning but it started to rain heavily, it will be a shame if they all drop off. My trees haven't started to ripen yet, I will keep watching and keep watching to see that no-one comes to steal them :(
The spring onions that I sowed last month are now through though there is no sign of the cabbage.
I have bought myself a strimmer, it is only small and runs on a battery but it will help me to keep on top of the grass and weeds that grow under my pear trees, mostly the work now is just keeping up with the weeds and that is quite a job.

August 27th
Well, no-one stole my plums!!!! I am now eating the last of those I have picked, some have stayed on the tree but out of reach and they are now over ripe, I reckon I have been eating plums for about a month, it is time to change fruit, having said that I still have some raspberries and I have been eating those since May:)
I still have a few 'Mange-tout', I pulled up most of the plants but one looked green so I left it and it is still flowering. I have had a plentiful supply of beans and the tomatoes are just ripening, I think they are very late this year but summer has not been very hot. All in all it has been good so far.
Having decided that my cabbage seeds were doing nothing I bought 3 plants only to discover that some of my seeds had germinated, I will have quite a few cabbages I think.
My courgette is very slow this year, I don't know if that is good or bad, I don't like being overwhelmed but I like to manage to have a supply in the freezer, hopefully it will continue producing for a month or two yet.
August 27th p.m.
Sooooo! I spoke too soon! I locked up this evening then, for some reason, I decided to go out again. I had just opened the door when I heard foot steps and my neighbour appeared from around the corner carrying a bowl of plums, they looked very familiar and she looked quite sheepish so I decided to check. There are now no plums on my tree and they haven't all fallen on the floor. She must be very athletic but I would swear to the fact that those plums were mine. Fortunately she has left it a bit late this year and I had most of them, to the point that I wasn't going to pick anymore. Next year I will know who to watch.