Mildew and scones

Finally, a clear weekend after a fine week. Tomorrow I plan to spend the entire day on the allotment. Today a hair-dressing appointment, so I only had an hour or so to spend this afternoon. I used the time on my rather ill-fated brassica plot. Downy mildew has hit hard, and I had an entire bucketful of yellowing leaves to clear away. The broccoli isn't too badly affected, but the cabbages are disastrous. I picked a few of the smaller ones, but on getting them back home I found that the mildew had caused black patches on the inner leaves. The cauliflowers look fairly pathetic, but on Jim's advice I'll give them a week or two to perk up. The broccoli is looking okay, and there are sprouts on the way. The leeks have done wonderfully well and seem unaffected by slugs, mildew or pigeons. I also have a few surviving spring onions. Stir-fry tonight.

There are many wonderful and surprising moments in the life of the new gardener. The taste of the first strawberry, the fearless little robin landing just a foot from you as you dig, the beauty of a sunset over the substation. To these I add the discovery of the scones at the local garden centre, Huntingdon Garden and Leisure. These are the best scones I have ever tasted in my entire career as a human being on this planet. These are not the miserable, cold, doughy little things you seems to get in most restaurants. These are wonderful, crumbly, freshly baked, about four times the size of a normal scone and crammed with fruit. The only way to eat them is to cut them into slices like a small loaf. I may well start making special trips up there at opening time so I get my scone still warm from the oven. It is an utter mystery to me how they make any money out of them. As a loss leader perhaps - the garden centre is on the slightly pricey side.