Best things this week were Downing Street garden and hobnobbing with politicians. Worst are it's summer holidays and most people are on holiday.

1. In the Daily Telegraph have been blogging about Horse and Hound, making lame jokes about otters.See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/5899351/Are-there-any-votes-in-veg.html. Horse and Hound staff say they're foxes. This is in Telegraph gardening top five most viewed (well it was on Monday-obviously a slow day). What has the world come to?
 
2. At the Defra summer reception for journalists met Jim Fitzpatrick and new Defra chief of communications. Fitzpatrick could be an asset for horticulture as a vegetarian but the chief was on about getting rid of badgers and grey squirrels with Times' Val Elliott. Maybe if Defra concentrated on growing things rather than killing them?
 
3. The next day went to Conservative Party policy launch for Future Farming with shadow Defra minister Nick Herbert. He's a fan of Roundstone and Farplants, which are in his constituency and is speaking to West Sussex Growers Association in November at Chichester Cathedral. This could be good news if he addresses slow payment, planning etc in the role he will probably take at Defra next year. But probably not if he's reshuffled as quickly as Labour's ministers and probably not if he gets distracted by badgers, squirrels, bird flu, etc. I asked Herbert about where he stood on stoats and weasels. He said he couldn't tell the difference. I explained that weasels are weasely recognised while stoats are stotally different.
 
4. Went to Downing Street last week to see the garden. HTA's Tim Briercliffe talked to Sarah Brown about butterflies, Paul Cowell (BALI) was late so had to knock on the door to get in, Lord Clark had to talk to me about football (he's a Carlisle United director-expect signings of a Sunderland teen striker and Rangers teen winger and for Cleveland Taylor to go to Brentford FC), Bellenden's Mark Glover told me about his tennis success with Huw Irranca-Davies and All-Party Horticulture Group's Brian Donohoe added his comments on RHS redundancies. Best value was Royal Parks manager Mark Wasilewski, who filled me in on 10 Downing St's kestrel and woodpecker. See here and elsewhere. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/gordon-brown/5896128/Browns-show-off-Downing-St-veg-patch.html Should be more in Gardens Monthly.
 
5. Gardening Which gets its readers who are photographed for the mag to take off their glasses because they all wear those tinted specs that make them look a bit, er, kidfiddly.
 
6. Thompson & Morgan open day this week. Always a lovely day in Suffolk. My colleague Jack Sidders went. I'm working on two big projects so am office-bound this week, sadly.
 
7. I harvested my first peach the other day from my allotment. Just thought I'd say. It was nice apart from the ants in it. 

8. Boring: Articles I hope I never have to read again, but probably will:

Monty Don: Composting tips for a better world.

Any trade writer: Trade must work together blah, blah

Rosie Boycott: My London summer food diary

Pattie Barron: New book on growing in urban spaces inspires London gardeners

Rachel de Thame: Frothy roses for your cottage garden

Alan Titchmarsh: Butter wouldn't melt gardening childhood tales

Any garden/other writer: My village allotment show hell/delight

Matthew Appleby: Why I prefer otters to asters

Laetitia Maklouf: It was my first time I grew...wibble, wibble

Tim Richardson/Peter Seabrook: RHS judging must be reformed

9. That's it-it is summer holidays.

Blogging at Daily Telegragh on koi carp,  garden centres, allotments. Note Tim Richardson on Telegraph website has written a good piece about changing RHS judging system so it doesn't involve conflicts of interest by using current designers or lecturers. Peter Seabrook has been on about this for years, most recently in Horticulture Week after Chelsea. I'd say: Though it probably deserved to win, the best in show at Hampton Court was for a garden paid for by RHS to fill a gap, as mentioned here.
I think Chelsea should be branded as an international competition for the best show garden of the year. That prize would bring back more sponsors and would lead to international judges being appointed-like a panel of World Cup football referees. Only without whistles.

1. The RHS says it is not going to build a garden at Blenheim but I think they will. RHS has largely pulled out of Fulham Palace show talks. Fulham Palace is getting a £7m revamp with a beach (yawn) etc.

2. Gareth from The Office (Mackenzie Crook-also a one-eyed pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean with Keira Knightley, who is the feature of a HW story next week and I once saw in Hyde Park) is desperate to ape top gear's James May and design a Chelsea Flower Show garden. Mackenzie says he doesn't know anything about it but he knows what he likes. He's been to CFS for four years in a row. Knightley is to blame for some trees being chopped down for the Atonement film in Streatham, where I used to live. They never got replaced. See HW website 20 July. Or Google it.
 
3. I was at Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board summer bbq at Westminster Abbey this week. Lord Taylor (bulbs) of Holbeach came over at the convivial event. He's keen to get Horticulture Week sent to Tory party campaign hq. Taylor speaking at Fruit Focus on 22 July. A keen Save our Science fan - SOS has rocked the boat at Defra, report levy board insiders.


4. Michael Jack MP in cahoots with ancient hort hack Ray Vale and The Times' Val Elliott. Jack is working on Securing Food Supplies up to 2050 report out on 20 July.
 
5. Defra secretary of state Hilary Benn spoke at AHDB. Jim Fitzpatrick, his deputy, was there. Both vegetarians. The event was for the beef, lamb and pork boards, with the odd potato and a nod to horticulture. Almost everyone was a member of a quango, except the farming hacks, who are so cosy with the quangos it's not true. And me, who turned up on a bicycle.

 
6. Also went to South Thames Garden Centre Association awards at Knockholt (near Pratts Bottom) at Coolings garden centre that night. Piers Mummery from Shoots garden centres was vocal about upping margin and criticised lame suppliers. Read about it in Horticulture Week on 24 July. Upsetting traditional garden centre owners?
 
7. James Alexander Sinclair turns 60 soon I hear.
 
8. Off to Downing St garden on 21 July. 
 
9. Had Ian Silverton from First Franchise's daughter Kelly for work experience this week. Dis-proved the view that 17 year olds these days are  gang members, muggers, ipod touting, Myspace addicted layabouts. She was very good. 
 
10. Went to branding exercise meeting today at Capel Manor College in Regents Park. "Look for opportunities to promote thr cause and standing of horticulture.