That time of year ...

Shifted the lemon trees outside and potted up a few nursery grown veg plants for the greenhouse. Put in some celery and cavolo Nero plants. Finally some tiny asparagus have emerged from the crowns I put in months ago. It says to keep them weed free. I fussocked around pulling forget-me-not and fat-hen from the rapidly warming claggy-wet soil, sweat dripping into my glasses.

‘Gawd,’ I thought, ‘summer gardening in Appenine Tuscany. No wonder so many people left the land.’

Knocking the compost out of old pots there emerged the by now familiar grubs of spring: firm, taught bodies and surprisingly scratchy ‘claws’ . Maybe they will be a future protein source but not yet for me.

I cooked some prawn and cuttlefish kebabs on a tiny earthenware brazier that took forever to light in the whipourwillish wind that would not settle. Later rain moved up the valley as forecast and set in for the day. We retired to the house.

Fitting in a way for the workers’ holiday. Happy May Day.