June has seen another couple of weeks of warm sunny weather, with a brief thunderstorm thrown in halfway through!
I’ve not sketched in my nature journal every day, but have tried to keep it up as much as possible. It is good to remind myself that I don’t have to journal every day if I don’t feel like it, or if I don’t have time. Sometimes, even when I have time there is something else I want to work on creatively, and that’s OK.
However, I am really enjoying journaling the garden and the farm this Summer, and definitely want to capture as much as I can!
Nature Journaling Around the Farm
This week, I have taken some photo’s of the field I walk in with the dogs – there is so much going on. The colours are changing as the weather continues to be super warm and sunny. We recently had some much needed rain, but it is really dry for the time of year.
The Blackberries are forming on the flowering Brambles – something we have a lot of in the hedgerows! It is such a rampant plant!
It is also lovely seeing the abundance of wild flowers in our fields – some of my favourites at the moment being Chamomile, Mallow and Thistle. I haven’t seen as many Foxgloves as usual, but perhaps that is because they are Bi Annual. Hopefully there will be more next year.
Nature Journaling in the Garden
On 20th June, we were treated to some rain, and a Thunderstorm rolled over the farmhouse early evening. I dashed out onto the patio in the garden, with my sketchbook and watercolour pencils, and attempted to capture the broodiness of the sky! It was fun 🙂 I had to be quick as I thought it would pour down, but nothing came of it, and it carried on feeling heavy and muggy.
Harvests of courgette have started! I am only growing one courgette plant, as I know how prolific they are at producing their fruit! Hopefully, we won’t end up with a glut and can keep up with the production! I just cooked some up today in a yummy omlette!
It has fascinated the kids and I to see the emergence of Dragonflies from the pond this week! My youngest found the first sign by the pond – he thought it was a dead larva, but I explained to him it was the old discarded skin, and that the dragonfly will have emerged slowly from it! He then spotted another skin hanging from a bullrush leaf! I was so happy to see that my new pond plants are already helping support the wildlife in the pond! I also learned that the discarded skin is called an exuvia!
I am looking forward to seeing what the next week holds – I have harvested my onions, so will sketch those. There are also broad beans and fennel ready to pick now, and I am heading to the Garden Centre to buy a few seed packets that I need for July sowings!
Thank you for reading, and happy sketching!
