Growing your own can be disheartening sometimes. A couple of my runner beans suffered minor attacks from snails when they were in pots on the patio, but the vast majority were pristine. Within a couple of days of planting them out into the vegetable patch, every single one has been attacked by slugs/snails, and is covered with blackfly. As things stand they look like they’ll all survive, but it can be demoralising.

But, just when I’m reflecting on the prospect of not getting the harvest I imagined from a particular crop, I’ll see a sight elsewhere in the garden that will make me smile. Suddenly, the potential loss of any one crop doesn’t matter. The last few days have been no exception, so I present to you a selection of photos of sights from the garden that have made me smile over the last week or so. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!