I’ve spent the morning battling with various hose joints and attachments in an effort to get the irrigation system up and running again for the summer. I find it so frustrating that I have to replace whole joints because they leak like crazy despite putting in new washers. Why can’t they last longer than a year? There’s little more infuriating than hearing preciously saved rainwater gushing from a joint, especially when you know it’s probably spurted out an entire m3 tank while my back was turned. Last year I installed some Rainbird timers which are the only ones I’ve found that do their job competently and reliably. Anyway, rant over.

I had quite a bit of help from Scout.

I think it has rained once in the past four months so I am having to water the vegetable garden really regularly. I’m also having to fill up the pond from time to time thanks to evaporation, so my stock in the tanks under the house are being eaten into already. It doesn’t bode well for the summer.

Meanwhile my tomatoes, aubergines and peppers are doing just fine in the greenhouse. I’m going to wait another two or three weeks before putting them out. The forecast is for a very cool snap over the next few days. I really don’t want to lose them as a result of my impatience. The rhubarb is just about ready to pick, I’ve seen small broad beans on some of the plants, the potatoes are just beginning to poke through the soil and we have more salad than I can shake a stick at.

We have lots of tulips too, so I’m picking them and bringing them in so we can enjoy all that glorious colour