Ok so I was supposed to do this ages ago, my final blog entry. I was thinking about why I have not had time to write this entry, was it the pace of London life? I don't think it is exactly that I think though being back in London means I have a lot more to do there is a greater opportunity here and also I have more daily distractions here.

I wanted to give myself sometime to reflect on the differences between my time at home and in London, although I had not intended that it was this long. With such an awful summer it was impossible to see if my influence made any impact on the farm revenue, which is quite frustrating. Oh and as a minor point we were no. 13 in the Guardian as there were no rankings.

One of the most noticeable things is in space and time; I suppose this is the geographer coming out of me now. London feels very cramped in comparison to Somerset, people, buildings, cars, even planes reminding you that even in the sky, space is restricted. Farm life tends to blend into everything the boundaries are very blurred you never really stop working because work is just outside the window; if it starts to rain you remember you need to move something inside or have a spare 5 minutes in the evening to finish off something you had started in the day. I remember when I was younger after coming home late at night going out to swap the irrigation over only a couple of taps, but it was the first thought. If you visit a farm don't be surprised if you get roped into something and don't wear clothes that you will be upset if something happens to them because it will, the amount of times I have been caught out with the could you just give us a hand for five minutes with this is too many for me to recall. It might be one of the reasons now why I prefer to work a bit later in the office and not take my laptop home.

Time wise it is not like things are not urgent on a farm they often are if a crop is ruining because it is not being harvested or a crop has to be planted or irrigated you can't just ignore it. The atmosphere in London is just a bit more pumped up I think with people competing, whereas on a farm it is much more about having a team target, your invariably working to an external demand. There is also always something going on in London, an event, an evening in the pub, playing squash or rugby. Back in Somerset there would be fewer options which presents you with more time, I would also spend a lot more time on my own doing some times repetitive or simple tasks, so you have more time to think. I personally like having a lot to do but it can be a bit wearing at times.

The noisy quiet theme is definitely one I have always been aware of and there were a couple of nights in Somerset when the silence was pretty deafening when I was trying to get to sleep.

I think grime versus mud is also a good one, with the townies and country folk being pretty put off by the stuff they are less likely to see. Hopefully I will stay adjusted to both.

I have now settled back into London, just about, I would like to have the best of both worlds really so I am trying to spend more time enjoying the countryside these days.

I will leave you with two views one from my London flat, the other from my bedroom on the farm...

Thanks to the people who let me know that we were ranked 13th in the Guardian's poll of the top 100 pick your own farms in the country, have not managed to read the report yet, but hopefully it was a good one and we were happy to get so highly rated. We were not able to get hold of a copy as we were out at a family wedding, a couple of people I think are keeping hold of a copy for us.

While we are still wet here Somerset has, so far, escaped the worst of the rain and there has been little flooding locally. Sadly for some of the country the rain has caused unbelievable floods; while we may have had some of our crops ruined we have not got a house full of water or fields

One sliver of silver in the clouds for us this year is the blackberries, these are cultured plants not the hedgerow variety, same taste bigger berries, less thorns, everyone is a winner. Just a shame we only have a couple of rows.

In addition mum's wild flower corner is finally showing life even if only from the cornflowers and the daisys.

Finally after a summer of rain I have been unable to avoid the rainiest rainy day job, which is clearing out the workshop. Despite trying to find work that can be completed outside in the rain I have failed and nothing is left accept to attempt a cleanup on our workshop.

Having briefly tidied the workshop bench earlier on in my time back, mostly because I could not find anything so at least me tidying the tools up meant I knew where they all were, I knew this was not going to be a pleasant task.

With a floor barely visible and an impressive collection of junk, spiders and dust, our workshop is more a place where things long past possible use or repair are stored in the hope that some elves will come along and magically restore these items to their former glory. It is a bizarre collection of odds and ends, amongst which we have a selection of early 20th century branding irons complete with family initials, a one legged television, an ancient meths powered lantern and an impressively large collection of wood saws most many many years since they were used.

That said the workshop can come up trumps it has all the tools for simple fixes or enough to bodge something to survive a little longer before it is replaced. Now the task is completed I am actually quite content that a little bit of order has been restored amongst the branding irons and wood saws.

In line with tradition I have left the broken rechargeable drill for the elves on the bench, failing that if someone steals it will be a small revenge.

Anyway sorry not been around for a while, been busy and on holiday, must have been disappointing for those of you logging on for a fun filled blog of the thrills of South West life.

I have spent some of this time recovering from an ample hangover after Somerset thrashed Glamorgan at Taunton for their first Twenty20 win of the season.

Justin Langer demonstrated smart captaincy, getting out second ball to allow his fellow Australian Cameron White to come in and flail 68 from 35 balls including 6 sixes. After this the Glamorgan were never really in the game and I joined with the rest of the Somerset crowd who were looking intent on doing some serious damage to local cider stocks. The resulting lethargy the next day meant I was unable to write my blog before heading off to the wild west.

Yes west Cornwall, I spent a day and a bit here enjoying the showers before heading to see Of Mice and Men at the Minack Theatre if you like theatre and you have not been you should, it is a great location. I could put in one of my dodgy photos of the Minack or I you could look at their webcam. It can get cold so take a blanket and they do serve pasties if you need warming up or forgot to bring the picnic. Luckily it managed not to rain during the performance.

Not content with west Cornwall being wild enough I pushed on 28 miles past Land End to the Isles of Scilly on the Scillonian III (the Islands Ferry Service) a thirty year old vessel that looks every day of it, but is the cheapest way there.

Despite the weather on the passage over looking grim, of the five days spent there only one was interrupted with some minor showers, the rest was warm sunshine. The islands themselves are great, stunning scenery, which because of the changes in light and tides is different each time you look. Wild and rugged in parts like the appropriately named Hells Bay below, go west from here and you hit nothing until Newfoundland, it feels the full force of the Atlantic storms which drove ships towards the dangerous rocks around the Scilly isles. Despite visiting on what elsewhere on the islands was a calm day, Hells Bay had a forceful wind pushing though and a sense of menace that left me with the distinct feeling that the full fury of this place would be best watched at a distance.

The water is really really clear, but freezing, I think the strong currents mean the water is always being pushed through which keeps it clean, but cold, I swam at this little cove below for about 5 seconds.

On returning to Cornwall there was time for a day on the beach at Hayle, again fabulously lucky with the weather and some attempted body boarding to prove the water here was warm. A quick trip around the Tate St Ives was well worth it, I say that but I did manage to get in free, really good exhibition at the moment is If Everyone had an Ocean: Brian Wilson. Compares California’s surf lifestyle to ahem … Cornwall’s, but still good, honest.

The only problem if you do ever visit St Ives is the parking and the crowds, consider we visited on a cloudy weekday before the schools have broken up, already the tiny streets of St Ives were having to cope with large hoards of people attempting to buy fudge and pasties. Entering St Ives in August must be like entering the mosh pit for Kasabian during Club Foot. Anyway you have been warned, St Ives loses none of its charm out of season.

Meanwhile back on the farm there have been some brighter days, but showers still dominating any activities.

Our second crop of 60 day strawberries that some of you may recall at the start of this blog are behind because of the weather this has caused a break between our two strawberry crops; generally everything just needs some sunshine. The raspberries are coping better than most and we just have to pick them when we can.

Despite my attempts to bring back some of the good weather I had experienced further west it refused to come with me past the Tamar River.

This weeks sees the start of Wimbledon, famous for rain and strawberries, which is unhelpful as we are past the peak of our strawberry crop (this happens pretty much every Wimbledon). Also for anyone reading the last two posts I am not too keen on any more rain either.

The massive plus point is our raspberries have started, for me the raspberry is the proper class in the British fruit season. The strawberry is the cheap tart of the fruit world, sweet, available everywhere, virtually throughout the year. The raspberry on the other hand keeps you waiting slightly longer into the summer, sweet enough, but with just enough kick to keep the interest. Even the way the raspberry is grows is refined, elegantly long willowy stems are trained to wires giving a suitable distance between the raspberry and the soil.

With the choice available back here on the farm it is raspberries for the rest of the summer for me. Relax sit back enjoy Wimbledon, if your missing a strawberry in your pimms, why not have a raspberry in your champagne.

Well another wet week here, my father blames the Glastonbury Festival 'It always rains when that lot is there', for those who know him I imagine such a comment sounds very familar. That said he has been happily watching Shirley Bassey and The Who. Next week it will be Wimbledon that cops the blame.

Perhaps building the pyramid stage on top of the ley line between Glastonbury Tor and Stonehenge has upset the climate. Whatever the reason I am pleased to say we have seen the Glastonbury spirit here ourselves with people braving the elements to go and pick fruit. I am alway amazed at intrepid old ladies determined that they will pick enough fruit for their jam, armed with little more than some stout walking shoes and a kagool. Thankfully we are not anywhere near as muddy as Worthy Farm; I guess a few hundred thousand more visitors would do that.

I have been surprised that some of the wind up merchants which I am associated with, have not been asking me more about what tractor I am driving etc. Anyway for the record my weapon of choice has been our Nissan Pick-up (see below), simply because it is faster and in the wet makes less mess than a tractor on our farm tracks.

Our two tractors are below before the inevitable questions.

Or should that be irrigation in the rain, yes even in the rain, the squally showers that we had earlier in the week being nothing more than an irritation holding up outside work and keeping customers away from the farm. There is now enough rain to stop irrigation on our raspberries, the strawberries under tunnels still need a drink, also everything gets its fertilizer through the irrigation (fertigation in agricultural terms) just to keep it going. All our irrigation is drip, simply put that is a pipe with lots of tiny holes in it, rather like Thames Waters pipe's, this makes it efficient and precise (unlike Thames Water) which is important as when delivering nutrients to the crops. We have started using a garlic liquid delivered through the drip line (don’t worry it does not taint the fruit), on our strawberries to put slugs and vine weevil off being active in the soil and eating the plants and in the vine weevils case laying eggs which will turn into grubs which will eat the strawberries roots in the winter.

While any pick your owner was able to pick under are tunnels, or dip in and out of the showers for our table tops and many did, my mother’s mantra that sunshine sells strawberries holds out.

These our the four Ukrainian students, from the left Oksana, Roman, Uri and Era, they were with us last year and they do most of the picking and planting on the farm. They have been patient with us this week and the ‘English weather’ when we have had to change them from one job to the next due to rain or shine. The students made it to The Third West Country Scythe Festival and Green Fair (I had drawn the short straw and was manning the farm shop) and seemed to have a good time, Uri Scythed a 5 meter square patch in 12 minutes, so maybe we don't need a combine after all... Anyway that might have been a better bet than annual nettle eating contest at the Bottle Inn, which I only found out about on Saturday, sadly too late to enter.

The only good news on the weather front is that it has enabled us to plant nearly all our pumpkins and butternut squash.

Anyway it is fair to say it has been a trying week.

Also the local school brought up a lovely card to say thanks for their visit which much appreciated by us all here.

I had the local primary school (where I was educated many years ago) up for a visit this morning and I really enjoyed it. I took them around our Farm Trail, telling them a bit about each crop, I tried to go easy with them on the potatoes before anyone asks. They were so interested in everything going on here at Manor Farm, great questions as well.

A couple of gem questions that I recall are:

Don't you get birds with really long beaks eating your red currents through the net?

Could'nt you cut your wheat with a hook thing if you don't have your own combine?

Err I think it would take me a while to scythe 24 acres... perhaps easier to ask someone who has a combine to do it for us.

Helpfully my uncle informed me later that The Third West Country Scythe Festival is taking place on his farm this weekend, be sure to get that one in your diary. I still think a combine will be a lot easier...

I also nearly started a riot by seeing who wanted to taste broad beans fresh from the pod, once one brave soul tried it and liked it they were hooked, all 60 odd wanted one and they were not taking no for an answer. In the end we had to pack them off with a bag of broad beans as well as the strawberries we intended to give them.

Open Farm Sunday went down pretty smoothly, or was that the Kingston Black Apple Aperitif (a blend of Cider Apple Brandy to the uneducated amongst you) made up as pimms. This is produced by Burrow Hill Cider, one of the best cider producers in the country and a handy cycle from home for me, you can buy it online, or you can buy it in Waitrose. To make up pimms style take one bottle of the Kingston Black Apple Aperitif 1.5 litres of good lemonade a cupfull of good apple juice some strawberries, mint and ice.

Anyway, everyone seemed to enjoy the Farm Trail around our crops with (hopefully) informative pages on each crop and our other tastings also went well, even if the biggest hit was the Cider Brandy Pimms style (which we have no license to sell). It made this Sunday as productive as a Saturday bringing in about 300 visitors and with luck maybe some will come again as well.

I attempted some street art in Ilminster as an attempt at some underground advertising.

Yes well, Banksy it is not, I blame a 6 am start, the dodgy pavements of Ilminster and poor quality floor chalks. I think I am back to the black board with that one...

And just for Phil here is a picture of a bumble bee enjoying our flowering raspberries and my Mason Bee Box, made from waste wood and bamboo canes I found lying around the farm. Red and blue mason bees are solitary and work laying eggs in holes in trees or masonry, which become next years bees. They non-aggressive as they don't have a hive to protect and are apparently 120 times more productive pollinators than honey bees.

Incidentally don't try this at home kids, that is not because it is dangerous, but unless you have a band saw or a circular saw (actually that probably would be dangerous) cutting up bamboo canes will drive you mad. They are quite springy and I found the only way was to put them in a vice and move it on each time before sawing another section.

I was also going to build some bumble bee boxes, but did not have time for them and I think it may be too late in the season now. The good news is there are loads of bees out in our fields at the moment bumbles, honeys and masons so it looks like they are doing fine without me.

Ok I got the final version of the artwork and thanks to those at McCann Erikson (part of the group I work for when not on a strawberry sabbatical), for their advice and contacts. This was just before I was off to Istanbul for the weekend, err yes not really strawberry connected, but it was planned a while before I knew I would be coming back to Somerset. I do, however, feel guilty for clearing off just as the season started. Oh Istanbul was great by the way, like a cross between Marrakesh and Lisbon, yes anyway that should be a different blog...

Even as you read this(hopefully), the printers are working away to get the labels complete for the end of the week. I really want them done for Open Farm Sunday, this is an event arranged by LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming), basically encouraging farms to open their doors for one day to the public and arrange some activities. Farms accross the country are taking part so you should be ablet o find one closer to yourselves if somerset is pushing it a bit.

For our part, apart from the normal pick your own stuff, we will have a farm trail and tastings of some of our products available in the farm shop. I am reliably informed by my mother that scones will feature...