It’s that point in spring where the things that I’ve planted are slowly getting going but the weeds are going hell for leather!

At the back of the plot I’m pulling up weeds and volunteer potatoes out (6 on Sunday) and it’s getting ridiculous. I’m also realising how much I don’t have to do because Ma does it. Weekly watering of perennial fruit and weeding in the paths mostly.

The fruit is beginning to start. We have baby plums, gooseberries and blackcurrants. The summer raspberries are beginning to flower, the blueberries and the apple tree are still looking outrageously extra and we even have a couple of strawberry flowers that I completely didn’t manage to eradicate.

Much to my surprise, we may even get irises next month. I planted a bunch under the plum tree about three years ago and they’ve done nothing, this is the first year they actually look like irises.

My grandmother was named Iris because they were flowering in her father’s garden when she was born in May, I’ve been completely unsuccessful in growing them, so if they flower next month when my mum can’t see them, I’ll be both delighted and sad (such are the times right now).

I still have a huge amount of work to do and I’ve been very lax with an awful lot of it but there’s still a lot of time until autumn!