Today we spent an hour nor so harvesting some veg- the first major crop from our marvelous raised beds.

We have bought no salad leaves at all this year, and the carrots and spuds that we have been picking a little at a time have to be tasted to be believed. The kids eat the carrots raw, gobbling them like mars bars.

It is one of the best things we have done to our rambling old house and garden- a chance to connect with the real business of food production, to celebrate the bounty of this unfolding creation, and to appreciate the passing seasons anew. We, the Goans, highly recommend it to anyone who has a window box.

It really is easier than you think, and the maintenance and tending of the growing crop is one of the more pleasurable chores that easily finds a place in even the busiest life. We do not use a lot of space- we have three boxes, about 8 feet square, and it is incredible what you can produce.

Now the shallots are out, we will immediately use the ground for something else- time to start thinking about winter carrots we think…

Power to to Ali in his ongoing campaign to get Argyll and Bute council to recognise their obligation to provide a decent allotment site to the folk who are crying out for one in Dunoon…