Courgettes, cats and books

We've had bad luck with courgettes in the past, so I was thrilled to see some fruits already...

The tomatoes are making up for lost time - I keep forgetting they're the standard 'Money Maker' variety, and won't grow as big as some of the bush species we've tried previously.

You cannot move in our little hovel without tripping over cats or books. There are thousands of them - books - and four of them - cats. The books are piled behind doors, on chairs, cupboards, and as a last resort - up every available wall. Here is our big ginger female Clover, spilling over the carpet beneath towers of old children's books.

Beans, spuds and spinach.

After much hard work and midnight slug massacres, we finally harvest a dinner's worth of produce.

our small but productive plot

The potatos were planted in the strip garden at the front of the cottage - we decided the soil was so famished, they would be the only veg with a fighting chance of growing. And they did their best. Not the heaviest crop of spuds, but they were delicous chipped and brushed with olive oil, roasted in the oven.

Broad beans

The beans were planted somewhat optimistically in late autumn. The short winter days and vicous slug attacks made early progress unbearably slow. But come spring, they started racing away, and now stand at about 5 ft, with heavy crops. They are best straight from the pod, but also lovely steamed with a sprinkling of Maldon salt.