I have had a day today that has been so similar in so many ways yet could not have been more different from yesterday. I’ve been working in the same 8’x21’ glass ‘room’ full of dirt, spiders and general crap. I’ve been dealing with the same chipped, tatty clay pots that I was working with yesterday. Today though has been an utter joy.

My hands have been where they love being, in compost (peat free of course…..would you expect anything else from an old hippy like me?) I’ve been planting all of those tatty old pots up with chillis (habaneros, scotch bonnets, tabasco and jalapenos), two types of sweet pepper – a pointy ‘ramero’ style and a traditional bell pepper, two types of tomatoes (ailsa craig – simply THE best tomato and gardener’s delight) and ‘sweet genovase’ basil.

In a few short months, we will have the best tomato and basil salad it’s possible to eat….and I know a place where I can get us some superb buffalo mozzarella, made just a few miles from here that will complement the tomatoes and basil beautifully. My excitement knows no bounds.

It’s really strange that I’ve been in the same location, doing broadly similar tasks, yet today’s tasks have been a complete joy, not the horrid chore that yesterday’s were. I’m mud-splattered and mucky finger-nailed, I’m stiff and tired but I’m completely content.

One little ‘worry’ is my greenhouse ‘hygiene’ has been appalling – I’ve planted up the pots exactly as they were left yesterday so any bugs or germs are still on them. They’ve not been washed or cleaned in any other way. Too little time to do anything else this year. Still, as DM pointed out to me, from New Mexico to old Mexico, from Delhi to Bangkok, there are thousands of people planting chillis in scrappy patches of land and they come up and survive so mine should do just fine here!

This cactus was found under the workbench in the greenhouse today and I’m half-ashamed to report it’s now in the compost. I don’t have a great liking for cacti or to be honest succulents in general so the pot it was in was more valuable than the plant…..it did, though, make a good subject for today’s pic before it went to meet its maker!!!

I can't remember the last time I spent a day doing absolutely NOTHING for anyone other than for me. It's a nice feeling.

Last year my very own rain god was doing his stuff.