I filled in the molehills outside the gate when I arrived. The handle of the trowel disappeared down into the holes. I packed the earth back into the holes, but when I came back after lunch, the hills were back!

The level of the pond had been fairly well maintained. Evaporation and roots will have pretty much covered the few centimetres drop. We’ve now cut the roots back a bit more and fished piles of stones out of the bottom and brought them up to the front shelf. The sand has sunk and formed a lip on which more stones can be put. Either the damn mole’s fault or just the fact that sand wasn’t the best idea in land that floods.

I’ve cut down all the tomatoes now, leaving their roots in the soil for another day. I’ve cut down lots more borage too, but have still left some bits that are going to flower. I can now see across the plot again.

While I was working I saw two birds dart around above the pond, stand on the helianthus and zoom around before disappearing. They were sparrow-sized but with very pale chests and a distinctive yellow stripe above their eye and a black stripe to the side. They were wood warblers on their migration route to West Africa.

We took down all the netting and beans and chopped them up roughly. That’s all gone straight on the compost heap.

The big thistles have been dug up from Bed 10 and soon I’ll start properly clearing and covering these finished beds. There’s going to be so much to do in the borders before winter.