Still a drought in the valleys

Now just four weeks to the longest day and still no rain with records for drought back to the end of the 1980's being broken. But it amazing how gardens planted up with trees for shade and mainly drought resistant plants are coping and indeed thriving , The garden is indeed a mass of colour and with numerous shrubsbudding up June colur should be amazing. On the fruit front trees seem to have deepened their roots duiring the past year and require little watering. Peaches might be a bit bigger if we did but not as juicy and sweet.

One benifit of trhe good weather has been the possibility of cooking and eating out without fear of a down pour. Paellas according to my book 'Authentic Valencian Paellas , available from Amazon Books, and tagines are being cooked weekly in my new garden kitchen and the Mexican oven was in action but cannot be used agaiin until the autumn due to fire regulations, And I am forgetting the solar cooker is often in action , today with a rabbit stew.

If you are concerned about designing a garden to cope with the spanish sun watch this space as they say. I should have something special for you in a couple of weeks time.