Moving to the countryside: Part 24: The veg patch enjoys the sun

Finally, some warmth came and, bearing in mind last year's appalling late spring and summer, this late April, May and June have been positively benign, if a little chilly.

Our criteria for planting anything is that is must be something we like. I often talk to gardeners who plant acres of runner beans and then say they give them all away. What's the point? Even better if the veg is expensive in the shops - though I've noticed that all veg is more expensive than a year ago - could that be to do with our awful weather?

So, we've got lots of peas and broad beans, new potatoes, Swiss chard and beetroot. Other useful staples include perpetual spinach, a few runner beans, a few cabbages and other beany type things that climb (borlotti and French beans).

Beyond those core, easy to grow regulars, we're experimenting with garlic (planted last year), salsify (a white root that is supposed to taste of oysters and requires a special stone free bed - see below), leeks and kohl rabi (a crunchy globe relative of the cabbage that tastes of celery).