Exciting new books are piling up on my desk, some have kindly been sent by publishers, others by the authors themselves, and then there are several that have caught my eye in bookshops.

MIDLETON Farmers’ Market celebrated its fifth birthday at Whit weekend. Since it started, the growth of the Farmers’ Market Movement has been nothing short of phenomenal. There are now well over 100 markets in Ireland and others are opening at the rate of one a week.