Glorious spring rain

I can't tell you how much I've loved the rain. This is my favourite time of year I think. Suddenly everything is heavy and green and dark. When the rain falls it just seems to accentuate it. I can almost feel the plants drinking the water and growing, growing. Just a few weeks ago trees were still bare, but suddenly, bam, an explosion. The combination of warmth, light and copious amounts of water is magical.

I know some people don't like the rain. But without it we wouldn't have this amazing greenness everywhere. Our balmy little island needs to be soaked regularly to keep it washed and watered and beautiful.

I trotted down the back lane earlier, avoiding the puddles (mostly) and picked a few sprigs of the white lilac that I knew would be blooming at the end of it. In the garden everything is as pert as can be, even the artichoke cutting that I took for my allotment neighbour that I'd pretty much given up on. Turned out all it needed was to be drenched in rain.

I need to make some time to plant out the things that are crowding my windowsills. In the living room it's all gone a bit feral. The cucumbers are flowering and grabbing onto the courgettes. In the kitchen I have a tray of squashes straining towards the light. I read Alys Fowler's article in the Guardian the other day where she said that they will be slug food, I've planted them too early. Well, not mine specifically, but it did occur to me that mine have done exactly what she warned against. I'm learning all the time, next year I'll sow them later.

The lettuces have already gone the way of the slug. One day they were there, the next day I couldn't even see stumps. In a triumph of hope over experience I have more ready to be planted out. Somehow I usually end up with some salad leaves for most of the summer. At the moment we're having sorrel, which is perennial so it gets off to a better start. It's a great thing to plant so that you have early salad leaves, and it pretty much keeps going all season.

Tomorrow I shall sneak away from my desk (dining table really, but that doesn't sound quite the same) and do a little weeding then sow carrots. Better late than never.