Safely back, very tired.

But what a post awaited me! The Summer IK, Ruth Stout’s “Gardening Without Work” – you didn’t tell me she was Rex Stout’s sister; AND “Knit One, Knit All”. Talk about cups running over.

I’ll start in Strathardle, though.

My first impression was deep disappointment (as often). Then I pulled myself together. First of all, we had been away only 10 days, not 2 ½ weeks as I mistakenly thought. Secondly, all my little seedlings are there, and doing nicely, although still miniscule, except for lettuce. Slugs? despite the nematodes? I sowed some more.

Peas lead the way:

These are an early pea called “Oskar” from the Real Seed Company. I have also planted mange touts, as always – this year, a new variety called “Kennedy” (promising) from T&M. I ever search for, and ever fail to find, the taste of the snow peas my father grew in his Victory Garden in Detroit. But I always get a good crop over several weeks. Who’s complaining? Peas like cool, damp weather, the Strathardle norm.

Here are the Mara des Bois strawberries, covered with flowers:

And here, the tout ensemble:

The plastic water bottles protect the runner beans I have been growing here in Edinburgh. It’s a bit soon to plant them out, but they are too big to hold back. They seemed very happy after four nights in Perthshire. They had been thoroughly hardened-off on the doorstep here. The bottles are meant to protect them from rabbits – you will remember that Robin Lane Fox said the other day in the Financial Times that wildlife don’t bother runner beans, but our rabbits may have let their subscription lapse – and also from a touch of frost, if it occurs. Maybe this will be the year when there is no frost at all from mid-May to early September? Maybe.

We read recently in a letter to the Telegraph – it is the sort of thing their letter-writers write about – that teabags soaked in Jeyes Fluid deter pests. We can’t remember now, which pests. But here is the experiment in progress:

We have just learned that the Beijing Mileses will be with us at the end of June and in early July. That’s going to be too soon for my own lettuce – especially as it hasn’t come up – so I bought a tray of plants in Blairgowrie last weekend. Above you see three of them, fully accessible to rabbits except for the impregnated teabags. I planted them on Sunday, they were still there yesterday morning. Watch this space.

We had more sorrel soup, and I have brought rhubarb back. I am keeping a list, this year, of what we actually manage to eat from my efforts, starting with a spectacularly good artichoke soup in February.