My earlier post about finding runner beans at the market (17 February) may not have been quite right. While they certainly looked like young runner beans, H now thinks they may, in fact, be flat French beans. Not that it really matters as they tasted lovely anyway. However, if anyone knows what ‘coco plat’ are, it would be interesting to know.

H is determined that we shall have some runner beans this year, though, and has bought some seeds and is waiting for the right time to plant them. He put his tiny pea seedlings out under pea sticks yesterday and now it’s raining again quite heavily, so I hope they don’t drown. Still, the rain is doing his leeks good, he says.