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It’s August 1st : the best of summer is behind us, and autumn is already waiting in the wings.  Every manifestation of providence is something to be savoured, both metaphorically and literally. It’s a summer of sunshine and showers, and mild to warm. It’s a summer of plenty.

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Today I’ll harvest the last tray of gooseberries. Denise will start collecting peas (we sampled a handful of raw peas yesterday – sweet and melt-in-the-mouth). Half the onions – of white and red alike – were harvested a week or so ago, along with all of the shallots : since then they’ve been drying further on a work-bench by a sunny window. This morning they’ve been taken out to the front of the house for a final session in the warm sunshine. Later today we’ll be pickling the shallots in a spicy vinegar of our own making ; and the onions will be diced to go in the freezer. The other half of the red and white onions are still out in the garden, waiting for another day that’s as sunny, dry and breezy day as today – perfect for harvesting ; and if there are several such days in a row, we may get them dry enough to store them in their natural state until late autumn.