Lost the Plot

A half moon, a little larger and even more of a watery pink than yesterday evening is rising behind the long shoots of a straggly hawthorn hedge that I'm going to have to get around to trimming.

From this bench by the pond you can hardly see our vegetable plot which is lost behind a tangled screen of seeding hogweed stems, spiky teasels and the odd bit of pendulous sedge and nipplewort; cover for frogs and other wildlife behind the garden pond. The church clock has just struck nine. There’s a soft drone of traffic but it seems quiet because the persistently cooing pigeons have at last fallen silent.

The house martins that were circling above are now back in their nests and the day's butterflies are replaced by moths which are emerging from the pond-side vegetation and fluttering past me. Of course there are other insects about: I suspect that I’m going to have a new set of midge and mosquito bites but it's worth it for the chance to experience a little of the magic of a summer evening.

A frog hops out from the hogweed and plops into the pond.

Beyond that tangled screen the vegetable plots are in need of attention. There’s a patch that I meant to plant a few weeks ago which is now sprouting a lush growth of weeds but despite appearances it has been a success story this year. We've had plenty of beans, tomatoes, courgettes and beetroot and the onions, leeks and parsnips, which we've yet to start harvesting, are looking good.

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Richard Bell
richard@willowisland.co.uk