As I wander down to the bottom of my garden, where my veg patch and greenhouse is, I have to brush past a row of lavender.

These bushes were only put in last year and for once I planted the small plants at the recommended distance. I am so glad I did because from small beginnings, exuberant bushes have grown.

They are looking their best at the moment and the bees are making the most of the nectar.

Did you know that bees have pollinated one in three mouthfuls of the food we eat? It’s quite an amazing fact and with bees doing such a vital job, it’s important that we look after them by growing plants for them to feed on.

Bees are buzzing around from March until November, so its good to grow a wide range of plants for them, especially plants which flower right at the beginning of the season, like viburnum, daffodils, bugle and rosemary, when nectar is harder to find.

The Gardeners’ World website has lots of information about what types of plants to grow, how to make a bee hotel and photographs of the 6 most common bees found in gardens, to help you identity them. (See the link)

My veg patch is certainly not a neat affair. With the squash acting like a right thug and spreading itself all over the soil like a triffid.

I am a bit concerned that my carrots and parsnips will suffer, although all the work is done underground with those vegetables, so I am not quite sure how they will be affected, if at all!

I have emptied the two remaining sacks containing the potatoes I had grown. This is the first time I have grown potatoes in this way, mainly to save on space and I have to report that the yields were much smaller than I had anticipated.

I had grown three varieties, Swift, Maris Peer and Charlotte. Despite following growing instructions, I only got about 2 and a half pounds from each sack, which was very disappointing.

I now have to question, with such a small plot and potatoes being inexpensive, should I grow them next year?

I have put the sacks to good use though. I have refreshed the compost and planted a purple sprouting broccoli in each sack. Three plants should be adequate and with the sacks close to each other, I can cover them with fleece, to keep the cabbage white off them.

I’m off to water the vegetables now, as we seem to have escaped the downpours the rest of the country have experienced and to check on the squash to make sure it’s behaving itself – the bully!