I have planted sweet peas absolutely everywhere. They are climbing the posts that support the raspberries, they are entangled with the runner beans and the climbing French beans and at home they are entwined on a trellis amongst a rose and clematis. Oh, and they are also clambering up another two wigwams of bamboo poles. I just love them.  I love their intoxicating scent. I love them even more because you can’t buy them. I guess they are just too fragile and don’t last very long once picked.  

Last year we only managed to cultivate half of the allotment and all that available space went on growing food. So this year, knowing that we would have nearly double the space, I assumed that there would be plenty of growing room for some flowers for the house.   The trouble is this extra space hasn’t gone as far as I had hoped. The flowers are not only taking up space, but I am slightly resenting them – even the sweet peas. I have a lot of leeks in a seed bed that now need transplanting. Leeks are great, they just sit where they are until you want them; frost and snow is no problem to them. Swedes, sprouts and sprouting broccoli are the same. They occupy their space on the allotment for quite a long period of time, but they deserve it. 

Flowers on the other hand might feed the soul but definitely don’t feed the belly and when they take up space that could/should be growing veg I find myself in a dilemma. Not only that, they don’t seem to be the simplest of things to grow either. The sweet peas are actually becoming bit of a problem as they struggle to climb the slippery bamboo poles and are now in danger of smothering the beans. They are actually quite a messy plant once they get going and although they send out tendrils to cling on to something, I have found that they need some extra help from a ball of string.  I also planted a four foot square area of clary sage. I was thinking that it would be good to invite butterflies (I can’t actually remember why now and at this moment I can only think of  cabbage white butterflies to which I definitely don’t wish to send an invitation) but they are now giving a little too much shade to – read, growing on top of – my baby celeriac plants. There is even a stray sunflower that has appeared in Joseph’s bed right in the middle of a line of lambs lettuce.  

However, when I came back from the allotment yesterday evening with my trug full of flowers I was overcome with the joy of it all and all dilemmas faded away....