My tiny veg beds, left mostly to themselves with little care and attention except for regular watering, continue to gift me their bounty.

The courgettes continue to burst forth, quickly ballooning to the size of melons. There’s courgette tucked into every meal. Today they were gently sweated down with some fennel seed into a sweet sauce for the freezer.

The last of the peas, green beans and broad beans were pulled, prodded and their beds hoed and mulched. A handful into the freezer the rest tucked into a fluffy paella just before the end and served with sardines.

The first though of the tomatoes. Tucked into the warmest corner of the patio and left to themselves they are dripping with fruit. Even the wild ones, self seeded into cracks and corners, are thick with tiny emerald baubles. Most of the crop are still green but a good bowlful were ripe and juicy. Some went in the paella, the rest into a slow, sweet pasta sauce along with ripped handfuls of basil.