New season broad beans and potatoes straight from the garden

WE’VE just had the first of the broad beans and new potatoes, such joy. Several of the grandchildren helped to pick the beans, until we chased them away because they were eating more than they were picking.

They love extracting them out of the long green pods, no two are the same but all are furry inside with a different number of beans in each one. They are sweet and juicy and the grandchildren are right, the French and Italians love them raw with just a little olive oil and sea salt and a little salty ricotta. Like asparagus and virtually every other vegetable the quicker you can get them into the kitchen and onto the table the more super delicious they will be.

The asparagus has been slow and late and sluggish this year, as has virtually everything else. The reality that we may have to perhaps drastically change what can be grown in this country is now a distinct possibility as we grapple with the fact that these weather patterns may now be the norm rather than the exception.