I am greedy. For plants and for their produce.

Hence the purchase of two damson trees (Merryweather and Farleigh, both AGM varieties) when there is really no more space for planting. Necessity provided the answer: grow them as cordons against the vertical supports of the vegetable enclosure so they don’t create unnecessary shadow.

Pick axe, heavy spade and determination, daunting volume of excavated stones, bricks and builders’ junk, muddy knees and strained back – then a starter indulgence of micorrhizal fungi, Climate Compost, leaf mould and manure to aid the roots before they have to find a way through the harsh terroir beyond.