It’s shaping up to have been a pretty good year at The Secret Acre, despite the very dry weather.

Where crops simply failed in last year’s unseasonable rain, at least the gardener has the chance to water things, especially, if like us, you live in a well-managed area like Severn Tent Water, which rarely needs a hosepipe ban.

So most things are back to growing reasonably well, even if the fruits are a bit undersized from the lack of rain.

A lot of insects have loved it too. Our Buddleja turning into a veritable butterfly convention at one point.

And the new Dahlia bed, thanks to the hosepipe and sprinkler, is also looking stunning.

The orchard is groaning, even if the fruits are some of those struggling for size, including seven fantastic peaches, easily breaking our previous record of just two peaches, plus lots of plums, pears and apples of course.

We went away for a week last month, only to return to find the greenhouse had become a nearly impenetrable tropical garden overnight of tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, padron peppers, aubergines, lemongrass and basil.

While in the veg beds, potatoes, sweetcorn, leeks and beans are flourishing. The local deer have enjoyed the beetroot leaves, leaving us to enjoy the beetroots themselves, an equitable system we reckon. While the squash patch, as if feeling guilty for failing for the first time ever in last year’s cold and damp, has run riot.

So, with any luck, The Secret Acre storeroom should be looking a lot healthier again this winter.