The allotment site, not surprisingly, has been busier than usual this year. Fortunately for those of us who rent a plot the government recognised very early on that allotment gardening is a safe form of exercise with built in social distancing and is a good source of healthy food. We have been allowed to keep digging throughout the pandemic.

So far this seems to be a good year for us – a relatively mild winter and a very warm spring have brought everything on well (including the weeds and just about every pest and plant disease going!). We use a lot of dried beans in the kitchen, and currently have five varieties growing on the allotment – in the picture is Czar, a runner bean with white seeds used as butter beans. Behind these a new addition to the repertoire is a bean called “Trout”. I thought this might be the closest I would get to one this year, but we were eventually allowed to start fishing in June.