Wellington’s famous winds have been thrashing our land this year like no other I remember in the three years since we moved into the house.  Our trees have really suffered and we’ve lost at least three which have been blown out of the ground or snapped in two.  Luckily the fruit trees are still standing and the promise of pears are starting to come to fruition.  The strawberries and raspberries have been wrapped in bird netting to preserve the bounty for us although we did lose all the cherries on the trees to the birds (need a solution for next year) and I wasn’t quick enough to save the gooseberries.  You live and learn so whilst I still lurch from one experience and experiment to another growing food I’m sure that we’ll eventually get the hang of it all.  Although I don’t want to think about the end of summer , the vegetables are growing like crazy and it’s time to start to plant out more seeds to give us our second helping harvest and kick off the winter crops. My plan for smaller amounts of different crops has yielded a more varied menu in the kitchen although the freezer is filling up nicely with beans, broccoli and other goodies.  I’m hoping for the opportunity to gorge on our fresh fruit ices this week – the perfect reward for hard graft in the garden.