This summer is my 10th with the plot and honestly it’s been brutal. It’s not just the weather, it’s the time. Last summer I was caring for mum a bit but not like this. I was at mum’s on a Saturday but I was home during the week, I could finish work and water and do an hour of weeding.

That has not been the case this year and it shows. For the first time in 10 years, there is bindweed in flower on my plot. It’s been overrun and it’s overwhelming. I did get to a bit of clearing at that beginning of the month but even in the drought the weeds keep growing.

Christelle said she’d come help and on Sunday she did. We really went for it. And all the paths and beds up to the blueberries got weeded. she was a machine. I got the front bed and rhubarb tidied and watered. Christelle cut the very crispy wildflower and blackberry beds back and I trimmed back the sage and artemisia, and cleared the other two beds at the front.

I also planted some catmint and all the orphan tomatoes. They may die, but at least they will have had a fighting chance. As we cleared the beds we watered them but it’s dry and the water barely penetrated the soil.

Christelle and I both attacked the grass and cornflowers around the gooseberries, I need to manage this area better, carboard and woodchip are keeping nothing down, so I’m going to put weed fabric down but I’m not going to cover it with wood chip, so I can keep an eye on it. It won’t look pretty but it should help a bit.

By this point we had filled the garden waste bin, so we used the bed behind the gooseberries as well as three of the pots and a big bag, all are full and I’ve ordered another garden waste bin.

I weeded the asparagus patch, watered it and topped up with compost. The blueberries were watered as were the fruit trees and the other beds.

We picked some chard, padron peppers, tomatoes, basil, potatoes and blueberries for Christelle to take home and Richard and Tana donated some courgettes and cucumbers as well! This was my first pepper and I kept it for myself! We also picked some plums

There is a lot more work to do but no longer looks abandoned.

I have some time next week and the week after and hopefully, I get it back under control.

The list for the end of August is as follows

• Weed everything, paths and beds.
• Decide which beds I’m not going to use and cover them
• Decide which beds I am going to use and plant them
• Take down the bean frame which hasn’t been used
• Plant the leeks
• Sort out the mint bath by the blackcurrants and that whole area

Later on, I need to sort the rose area and the back where the boysenberry it before it starts trying to invade the polytunnel again.

There’s always something to do but I need to get it more under control so I can really sort it out in the winter.

Finally, I might need to start wearing closed in shoes!