Sunny sunday

What a glorious day. I was up early to sort out seedlings at home, then I cycled up to the allotment, where the broad beans are in full flower. The blackfly have descended en masse, and there were several ladybirds scuttling round hungrily.

The first strawberries are reddening - I must get some straw to protect the precious fruit.

I'm so proud of my garlic. I've never grown it before, and I'm glad it likes conditions on the plot. It's such a luxurious looking crop. The main tasks today were planting out the squash and more pea seedlings. The mega-weed of last week shows, but there was more to be done around the fruit patch. Q rang later as I was on my way to Walthamstow, and he's going to tackle cleaning the onion bed.

On my way out, I stopped to chat to my lovely lottie neighbour Laura. She's a non-hybrid woman, growing everything from last year's seed. She was busy watering her carrots. Her potatoes are already in flower - no flowers on mine yet.

After hurtling back home, I headed over to Walthamstow farmers' market. It's small but perfectly formed, and today was the day of the annual plant fair.

First stop was the Seriously Italian stall. I first discovered them last year and was completely wowed by their gnocchi and pesto. It's the only pesto in a jar I've ever tasted and liked. Today I got a jar of the five-herb pesto.

Bread was on my shopping list, and I got a loaf of olive sourdough at the Le Moulin stall. Butter was on the list too, and I spotted some at the Lincolnshire Poacher stall.

The chap manning the stall was very cheerful. The Poacher guys have been making cheese since 1992 and they've won numerous awards. The cheese is unpasteurised and organic, made with milk from Holsteins. The Poachers have invented a special brush that the cows can use to clean themselves - you can see it in action here. Oh, and the cheese tastes yummy.
Next up was the serious business of the day - the plants.

There were more plant stalls today than last year, which is a great sight.

I loved these Zwartkop aeoniums - and I wasn't the only one - they'd attracted quite a crowd. I bagged one to take home, thus gaining another reason to hope for a long, hot summer. At the next door herb stall and bought a pot of dill for the garden herbiary.

I was thrilled to see that Muck and Magic, purveyors of extremely fine meat, now have a stall, so I bought a small joint of smoked gammon. My favourite of all my mother's Sunday lunches was boiled bacon, parsley sauce, broad beans and potatoes. No beans yet, but I've got some in the freezer.
Getting the gammon was a good excuse to stop at the Millwhites stall. I tasted several but my favourite was the dry Dabinett. The stall guy said that he makes the cider in Hertfordshire with apples from Somerset. It's a lovely brew. Then it was home to think about lunch and moving some pots around in the garden.