Various bits of news...
The authors and judges met for tea ahead of the event, and we had lovely writerly chats. Then we moved into the main rooms of the ICA, a handsome Georgian building with beautiful reception rooms upstairs, with high ceilings, big windows and polished floors. There were many guests, including publishers, stunning flower arrangements, sparkling wine and canapés, live music - and us! Claire Adam won the Award for her book Love Forms, but I am still so happy that my climate novel The Wilder Path was on the shortlist of only 4 books.
Huge thanks to The Society of Authors, and to our panel of judges chaired by Malika Booker. Here's a picture (photo by Jonathan Hawkins).
Meanwhile this unseasonably hot weather has taken both me and my garden by surprise. Two weeks ago by small veg plants had to be brought inside not only at night, but often in the daytime, especially tomatoes which hate the cold. Today the heat drives me inside and it's a challenge to keep them watered. It's the hottest May week ever.
You will see from the photo below that I plant my tomatoes in large pots directly into the earth. This is to protect them from weather shocks - heat, cold, flood and drought. It works. The first year I did this, I harvested nearly 40kg of tomatoes from 7 plants. I recommend this technique!
The garden is always a work in progress this time of year. You can see climbing French beans in the plastic tub, almost ready to be planted. There are cucumbers too, and courgettes, parsley and mint (in a pot), lettuce, pak choi and other herbs. Behind are raspberries which are already beginning to fruit (several weeks early, despite the cold spring). Wild strawberries bring me and the birds pleasure. And the large grey-green plant is a poppy which I didn't have the heart to dig up. It's not in the way right now.
There is very little better than home-grown produce. And it takes a tiny bit of pressure off our increasingly vulnerable food supply systems.
