The old greengage tree that towers over this bed and has never flowered or fruited is to be replaced by a black mulberry. Eight years old and still barely thicker than a broom handle, the mulberry's slender branches twist and turn elegantly and will provide much more delicate shade for the climbing ‘Cosse Violette’ beans, golden beetroot, Venetian pumpkins, dahlias, carrots and sweet peas that also occupy this bed. Living quietly at the back of garden it will be moved into its new home this autumn.

Autumn 2008. There is something curiously romantic about a vegetable bed at the end of its season. The dried stems of the late squashes crisping in the last of the autumn sun, the final few nasturtiums holding on till the first frosts, and here and there a shining yellow squash. The carrots are doing exceptionally well. The Purple Dragon are crisp and a gentle violet colour; the Nantaise chubbier than I had expected whilst the Guerand has been a little shy and is far behind the other two. In truth the carrots are still too close together. One of the few garden jobs I don't enjoy is thinning carrots and I tend to leave it too late. That said, the infant carrots, the size of my little finger, are intensely sweet and cook in a minute or two. I let them steam for three minutes at most. No butter. I eat them just as they are, or toss them in a squeeze of lemon juice and walnut oil.

Summer 2008. A fox cub has taken to sleeping under the sweet pea frame. He looks cute beyond words, but is damaging the roots of the dark coloured sweet peas and the runner beans that are shooting up to take their place. I have put a sonic Foxwatch device in the bed to deter him. There are plenty of other places he can sleep, though few as fragrant. There are three squashes to the right of the bed: Connecticut Field, Uchiki Kuri - the deep orange onion-shaped squash - and Cocozelle, a green striped variety of marrow from 1885. They are protected by bamboo cloches and coffee grounds to deter the snails.
       To the left there are three varieties of carrot. Nantaise, which is enjoying the shade from the greengage and de Guerande, which isn't. Bushiest of the three is Purple Dragon, a yellow variety with violet skin. I will soon start thinning, and hopefully make a salad with the first tiny carrots. Also in this bed is a patch of Hamari Gold Dahlias and tangerine nasturtiums that seem to have seeded themselves. The red velvet sunflowers, usually so much a part of this garden failed to germinate this year.

Spring 2008 . Sweet peas, including the ancient Cupani, Lord Nelson and the sultry Black Knight are already climbing their frame in the centre of the bed. I have put in a row of Ailsa Craig onions, currently the thickness of a spring onion inter-planted with spiky Lingua di Canarino lettuces. They are protected by a circle of spent coffee grounds, as an alternative to the organic slug pellets I used last year. The idea came to me from BBC's Gardener's World and appeals to me on several levels. Time will tell if Monmouth Coffee's Brazilian Rodomonho is as popular with the garden's snails as it is with me.
    Beetroot has gone into this bed too, the Italian Chioggia variety with its alternate pink and white rings. Early Nantes carrots are currently being a little shy, but hopefully will show their heads soon enough. Amongst the French carrots and Italian beetroot are signs of the Hamari Gold Dahlias whose young shoots are just peeping through the soil. (May 9th)
    Last night the fox cubs who live in the next door garden found their way into the netting tunnel that protected the young carrot seedlings and squashed them flat. I will re-sow by the end of the month.

Winter 2007. The bed is sleeping. Two giant foxgloves have sown themselves in the dark wet soil. I have no intention of moving them, but will leave them to mingle with whatever goes in the bed this year.

The sweet peas usually go in around the climbing frame in early May. Last year I also planted two rows of golden beetroot and a few Velvet Queen sunflowers. The sunflowers did better than the beetroot. There are often Cosse Violet beans; more sunflowers - the chestnut flowered Autumn Beauty - and a couple of Venetian pumpkins, whose green warty skins hide a promise of sweet orange flesh. They were unsuccessful this year due to an invasion of inquisitive snails. The dark red Dahlia (Chat Noir) that seems to thrive in the corner of this bed has sent up a batch of bright new shoots as if to let us know the summer on its way. Dotted all over the dark soil were leafy potato shoots (Charlotte) which seem to sow themselves. Although they were not on the plan for this bed this season I saw no reason to disturb them, and will dig them up only when I need their place for the young pumpkin plants.

Summer 2007 - The sweet peas have done well here, the best this year being The Doctor, a clear lilac-pink variety and heavily fragrant. The summer's constant rain, however beautiful it is to hear, has caused an upsurge in the number of snails. They ate the entire first crop of Violette beans. A second batch of young plants is due to go in during late July. The courgette flowers - Striato d'Italia - are producing long flowers like great golden trumpets. Few fruit yet, but there is plenty of time. We dug the Charlotte potatoes in early July. They were in the pot within minutes. We ate them with creme fraiche and fresh dill. There are tiny patty pan squash here too, and the first bright yellow fruits appeared in early July. We wait for them to plump up. As this bed gets the best of the sun, I have planted a dozen sweetcorn, in the hope we might just get enough sun to ripe it.