On a personal note . . .

Just a little personal blogging for a change: our garden yielded its first green beans for tonight's supper. My DH is doing a mid-life career change, so just now he is a house-husband, potter and mature student, instead of the miserable, grumpy but highly-paid project manager he was when we met. And he is also becoming quite a keen gardener. Below is a picture of last year's garden, where I did maybe 20% of the work (if that) and the crop was all salad greens, radishes, fennel, courgettes (that's zucchini to Americans and Australians, marrow to Brits over 70) and a shedload of spaghetti squash. This year we have a bit less of the cucurbits, but we have branched out to include beetroot, green beans, bok choi, and with the addition of three mini-greenhouses, tomatoes, basil, bell peppers and chillis. There are some tiny green courgettes in the kitchen, the advance troops of what will be an onslaught. There are a few small green tomatoes. We have been eating huge designer salads for a month already. Life is good.