A no-nonsense account of some recent gardening practices.

Yesterday, in between looking at flowers, walking the dog and the kids, spending time with my visiting mother and doing yoga, I gardened, as I do every weekend. I spent the glorious afternoon spreading manure and spraying the peaches and apricots with bordeaux mixture, hoping to stave off the leaf curl this year. I also pulled out the lupins which were in a few beds as green manure, and had another go at turning in the oats. Pulling out and then mixing in seems to be a better option for me; when I shovel and turn over, the green manure is left with such lumps of soil on the roots, it just keeps growing. In keeping with my pseudo-permaculture approach, and once again avoiding the bad bug-supportive hay/lucerne mulch, I used big stacks of weeds as cover over the rings of manure. There's something very satisfying about using what I have to do what I need. There was nothing inspiring about my time in the garden but it was so very satisfying all the same.

Excitingly, the broad beans - the fall where they will set - are starting to flower. After a childhood of hating the things (and in my defence, my tragically slack and slatternly mother didn't double peel them - just one more instance of childhood cruelty to which I was subjected. Hi Mum) I now look forward to these nubbly lengths of deliciousness. I say it every time I go into the garden, but it bears repeating: this summer's going to be very good indeed.