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.