July has stayed hot and dry from start to finish, albeit with some slightly cooler temperatures this week. All around Bishop’s Castle the fields lie shorn, stubble baked to a crisp, and paling to the colour of Jersey cream. The harvest, then, is done, and a good month early; the grain shipped off to store or contract buyers. There will be no need to dry it. Moisture is the very thing that’s lacking, and so the talk is of lower yields and big farm losses. That said, not everyone has done badly. Some farmers have produced a good crop. Much depends on when they last had rain and the lay of their land. Also on varieties grown. Wheat is a grass with resilience ‘baked in’; it has deep delving roots.
Meanwhile, the Farrells have had the luxury of spending most of July in the garden. They have kept company with Gatekeeper butterflies, Sedge Browns, Painted Ladies, Cabbage Whites and a host of bees and hover flies. There’ve been a lot of moths around too, including the day-flying moth in the header photo (ID not fathomed, but whatever it is, it clearly likes phlox nectar).
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The plant-life has just about coped with the drought, some varieties better than others, and especially those that were well mulched. In fact, the flock of self-grown sunflowers have positively thrived, and quite left to their own devices. The tallest one is 8 feet tall and with 8 flower heads. The gardener, though, has grown a bit weary with tending and watering. But on the big plus side we’ve truly enjoyed weeks of eating outdoors, shaded by the backdoor wing. Having supper outside every evening is definitely not a guaranteed summer occurrence in England. We’ve been feeling as if we’re on a foreign holiday, and all without transiting an airport. Triple bonus indeed.
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There have been some good vegetables grown this month too. I’ve tried to stop treating our smallish back garden like an allotment plot and concentrate on growing things that work (given pigeon, sparrow, flea beetle and butterfly predation). So we have courgettes, French and runner beans, potatoes (not too many), tomatoes, baby cucumbers, herbs and salad greens. So far so good.
And hopes for August? Please weather gods can we have some nice and steady falls of good summer rain.
Copyright 2026 Tish Farrell
The Changing Seasons July 2026 Please call in on our hosts Ju-Lyn and Brian at Bushboys World
Lovely read, thank you!
I think your moth is a small elephant hawk moth 🙂
Hello, Lesley. Lovely to find you here.
Absolutely lovely, your photographs and your narrative. pp
Many thanks, Pam.
Smashing veggies. Healthy as they come and organic. What an absolute pleasure.
😊
Cheers, Ark. We are literally full of beans at the mo’ 🙂
Nice one!
We all need beautiful rain….
thank you for your informative post today ..
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Hello, Janet. ALways lovely to hear from you.
You’ll never go hungry at your place, Tish xx
As long as you like French beans! We’ll be eating them for breakfast at this rate. And I only grew a dozen plants 🙂
French beans on toast? Perhaps not. I’d prefer an egg but you don’t keep hens xx
Am more enthusiastic about a bean glut, having found a Sarah Raven dressing recipe that involves mascarpone cheese, lemon juice/zest, garlic and olive oil. It might even work on toast!
For me. Not cheese adverse Michael xx
Your garden is still beautiful Tish in spite of it being dry there. We are used to dry summers. That’s why it’s important we get a good amount of rain the the fall and winter seasons.
We had a huge amount of rain over the winter, and I guess that’s why our trees and hedgerows are a mass of vegetation now – even as the pasture and arable fields are fried to dust. Out for a walk last evening, and the farm lane was a cascade of wild blackberries just beginning to ripen. There were some juicy ones too – delicious!
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Your garden is a real treat Tish. The insects and flowers are fabulous, the Allium? flower and the bee is a wonderful photo.
Having garden produce is a bonus. I hope you have lots of friends to give the courgettes to, they can be quite prolific can’t they. I have a recipe for your potatoes. Boil until starting to soften, put on a baking tray, squash a little with a masher, pour on olive oil and sprinkle with Moroccan seasoning, into a hot oven until crisp on the top 😋
Thanks for joining in The Changing Seasons 😀
Now that is one good recipe for the spuds, Brian. And that particular variety will be perfect for the squash and roast approach. So far the courgettes are being most restrained, but as for the French beans – give-aways are definitely on the cards.
The bee is on an Echinops flower.
I bought some red spuds today to do just that. One of my favourite ways to have potatoes and those are the best.
Beans. Put on a roasting tray sprinkle olive oil and add salt and pepper. When coloured, plate up and sprinkle a balsamic vinegar and a squeezy of lemon. I use a fancy caramelised fig balsamic vinegar 😋
My goodness, Brian. You know how to live well 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks for this.
I like to cook Tish 🧑🏼🍳😁
I can tell!
Such beautiful company to keep with the butterflies in your idyllic summer garden, Tish. Wonderful. 🌺
We are very lucky to have such good company, Flavia 🙂 🙂
Lovely to see your bees and butterflies 🙂 I envy you a bit being able to eat outside so much – here in London it’s mostly been a bit too hot even by dinner time, though sitting out after dark is a pleasure!
Our sitting out weather seems to have blown off today. V. breezy.
Whereas here it could be just right for it this weekend 🙂
🙂
For the heat and drought, your garden looks to be thriving – kudos to the hard work of the Gardeners. I love the sunflower and pretty purple/blue beauty.
Isn’t it wonderful to have a staycation in your own backyard? I love it!
May August bring needed rains as you wish.
Happy to have you back home, Ju-Lyn. So yes, a staycation in the backyard, there’s much to be said for it 🙂