Squash, flowers and wildlife

June seems to be the month when all living creatures are at their most active. Plants thrive on the long days, which feeds insects, which feeds birds, which make the most beautiful music for us to hear. So it when you grow green manures like mustard and Phacelia, which are positively teeming with life, it feels like you're contributing in a very direct way to the web of life.

Standing next to the Phacelia on a warm or sunny day the noise is incredible, a constant low-level noise of buzzing insects. Scilly has a very high level of bumble bees, proven by the concentration of the insects on these plants. Somewhere underneath here are 200 rhubarb plants!! They're doing alright, but could do with a bit more light. But I'm not cutting down the Phacelia yet...

In the next field, following on from the early spuds, are a lot of squash and courgettes. The first squash plants, which were planted in mid-May are now firmly established and starting to run and produce flowers. I would expect these to be ready as early as August, with the main crop ready in September/October. Looking forward to the first roast squash already!