PLOT LINES

T would be a mistake to say there isn't much happening on the plot at the moment.

- WITH TIM FOSTER

In fact, a 'frenzy of activity' would be relatively accurate, with all of the bed prep, sowing and planting. But there is an element of truth in that there is little to harvest.

Stored crops like onions and potatoes are showing their age. New crops aren't ready yet and winter crops like leeks and brassicas are getting past it - trying to flower.

So, to keep the spirit of feeding ourselves and not relying on imported supermarket produce, how about a little light foraging?

Foraging is a really interesting concept. You stroll out into the wild (of course there is no 'wild' in this country - everywhere has at some point in the past been manipulated by us) and pluck things. Not eye-brows or guitar strings, but vegetation. This is the growth of perennial plants which, because they are well established, have enough stored energy to burst into rapid growth in the spring, just when we are suffering from the lack of the homegrown.