CHRIS RUNDLE

THANKS TO THE WEATHER THIS YEAR'S CROP OF APPLES FOR THE KITCHEN IS ALL ABOUT QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY...

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SOME things never work out as intended. And by way of an example let me direct your gaze to the front garden.

It slopes somewhat steeply due south which gives it the benefit of all-day sunshine. When we came here most of it was occupied by an area of grass which was regularly cut and as we discovered when the bloke turned up at the front door expecting to be paid - treated with weed-suppressing chemicals twice every year.

Well, we weren't having any of that for a start. Or of the tiresome chore of heaving a lawnmower up and down every couple of weeks from Easter until Bonfire Night. So we decided to sow the grass with wildflowers, allow nature to take its course - and plant what in hyperbolic estate agency speak would be described as "an orchard" but which I call a few fruit trees.