cuckoo pint,runner beans, Le Dounier Rouseau cat

One of the first plants I knew as a child was the cuckoo pint. I loved the bright red berries which clustered round the stem almost hiding it, and the alternative name, lords and ladies. And when they said that the berries were poisonous, it made the plant even more exciting. This afternoon the spikes of red berries leap up from the dry ground bringing a memory with them.

Picking this year's first runners, I snap one in two and crunch it between my teeth; it spurts out green juice.

Among the courgettes plants, which after the recent rain, have grown into a proper jungle, I see the orange cat, sheltering from the sun and looking like one of Le Dounier Rouseau's tigers.