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This summer, two billion portions of peas will be harvested in Britain. Jam packed with nutrients and protein, their sweet flavour makes them one of Britain’s favourite veggies.  But the second you pick and pop a pod all that goodness begins to fade. So farmers in North Lincolnshire have just 150 minutes to get them from field to freezer. Keeley Donovan finds out how to tell when the peas are ripe for picking and joins the pea farmers racing against the clock to make sure Britain’s favourite little vegetables, taste absolutely pea-fect.

Truffles are the most expensive food in the world. These unassuming mushrooms are known as black gold and are highly sought after. Margarita Taylor is at a top-secret location where Britain’s first cultivated truffles are being grown.  It’s the brainchild of Dr Paul Thomas.  He planted trees impregnated with truffle spores six year ago and now his patience is beginning to pay off.  Margherita goes on the hunt for this exclusive and rather elusive fungus with the help of Freddy, the truffle-hunting hound.

John Craven heads to one of the deepest parts of the North Sea in search of the mysterious white-beaked dolphin.  Little is known about the creatures but as John travels to the Farne Deeps, the spectacular athleticism and curiosity of the species is revealed.  Countryfile Summer Diaries re-visits his exclusive access to never-before-seen underwater footage of them in UK waters as well as finding out about the science behind the study of the mammals.

At the start of summer, Paul Martin took on a dozen quail at his Wiltshire smallholding.  Happily settled in to their new home and laying eggs daily, Paul sets off to find out how to make these tiny but tasty eggs pay. He gets a lesson in how to cook quail eggs from top local chef Peter Vaughan and secures his first regular customer.  Paul decides to expand his quail covey and invests in a new batch of chicks to rear by hand.  In about six weeks, they will be laying some miniature eggs of their own.

RSPB Area Manager and conservationist Roy Taylor, heads to the Woolston Eyes nature reserve in Cheshire - where his passion for wildlife first began. Roy reports on a battle being waged against a countryside invader that is taking over the reserve.  He meets the team working tirelessly to protect this important reserve and the wildlife that call it home.  He finds out what can be done to protect our native species from alien invaders this summer, including the poisonous Giant Hogweed and the suffocating Himalayan Balsam.

Bees are our most important pollinating insects. They pollinate seventy-five percent of the world’s staple crops. But how do they let the rest of the hive know when they’ve found a really good supply of pollen? They do a waggle dance.  Ellie Harrison visits a research team at Sussex University who have de-coded the bees’ dance routine and uncovered the secrets of their foraging habits. Ellie learns that the way a bee waggles it's body, can communicate the direction and distance to a pollen supply to the other bees.