It was so dry for so long that I feared we might lose some of our young trees in the orchard. The raspberries died back in the heat of May, their fruit hard and small. But when the rain came everything changed. Here is a tayberry, just coming ripe.

Raspberries are filling out and turning red now and the damson tree is bearing fruit for the first time. The damsons should be ready around the end of July.

I am sorry we have not been able to do our usual work parties so far this year, but the magic of a ‘forest garden’ approach is that it all goes on without much attention. The Frampton Magnum plum, nearest to Emersons Green Lane was carrying a terrible bacterial disease after our wet winter and I feared we might have to take it down, but the drought seems to have resolved it and it is looking better than ever and bearing fruit.

Wandering away from the orchard one day, I found this rather lovely insect on a leaf near the middle pond. Anyone know what it is called?

Finally, I thought you might like to see this racing pigeon, who landed in our garden just before the thunderstorms. It has rings on its feet which allowed me to trace its owner and I gather that it was released from Frome and was aiming for Birmingham before it was overwhelmed by thunderstorms everywhere. He walked around our garden for a day and was so friendly and bedraggled we took him in and fed and watered him. He is looking much brighter and I will send him on his way when the rain clears this afternoon.

Best wishes to you all