A new summer on the way!

Potatoes chitting; broad beans that I planted back in November have survived the deep frosts and are springing forth; peas are in, lots of them this year; plus another bed of onions and garlic. These are the little jobs that always seem to signal the reality of another summer approaching. A whole summer of spuds, peas, beans and onions, all bought for less than 15 quid, plus a few hours of time planting and weeding. The spuds are mostly varieties that you'll never see in shops, including the marvellous salad variety "Pink Fir Apple". Best return on investment of all is probably the garlic - about 40 bulbs cost £3 - half a year's worth of the wondrously flavoured Isle of Wight beauties.

By the way, keep your eggshells for the veg patch, as they make a great addition to the compost as a soil conditioner and provider of minerals. I keep them (in halves) in the boxes until I have 4 boxes; then they they go under the wheels of the car, reverse over them and back again and you have (a) nice finely crushed shells and (b) the boxes well schrunched up and easy to tear into the compost heap. Or just chuck the ripped up boxes on the garden as well and the worms will pull them in.