Coronavirus lockdown diary weeks 11 & 12

After three months, tomorrow marks the start of shops reopening. As much as I'd like to look round, I think there will be long queues and a lot of people milling around, so I will probably wait a while.

I'm missing the sunny and warm weather,it's been very rainy and cloudy most days. However my gardening efforts are just starting to pay off! In the first week of June I harvested my first courgette, quickly followed by two more, including a round one. We've been snacking on fresh peas straight from the pod and pulled up one pot of potatoes, which were delicious - full of flavour and firm. I just used some old supermarket potatoes that were past their best and already sprouting and I think they were tastier than last years from seed potatoes. My only regret is that I used two potatoes per pot instead of the three I did last year, as I'd read that cramming them in actually reduces the yield. However, the foliage seemed a bit sparse and my concerns were confirmed when i pulled them up, as I had a yield of just under 600g, approximately a third less than last year! So from now on I'll stick to three seed potatoes in my pots as it doesn't seem detrimental.

At least however I can now use the potato pot for something else and today I filled it with radish seeds. They are fast growing so hopefully I can get a few batches.  I've sown two more waves of spring onion seeds and some carrots. The carrot seeds are five years old so may not sprout, but there's only one way to find out!

My eBay sales were fairly busy last week, but so slow this weekend. It could be in view of the shops opening imminently, but I do hope it picks back up again as it has been a good way to declutter.

My gorgeous rose bush has finished flowering for now and I miss its scented showy blooms, but the sweet peas have started to put out flowers so hopefully it won't be long until they take over. I'm going to try to take cuttings from the rose next month so I have more plants.

It is such a treat to pick roses from the garden for your vase, especially whilst it's been difficult to buy flowers.

Finally, up until last week we were still seeing the cute great tit family in the garden, the chicks still sticking together and being fed by their parents. I haven't seen them this weekend but think I heard them in the trees. I bought a new feeder for them so I'm hoping they come back to visit soon!