I had an audience today as I pottered on the balcony with stakes and twine, wrestling with our bendy tomatoes to try and make them straight. Floor 5 are very impressed, so keep an eye out for stray bookish types sneaking into the garden to pillage our stocks. Call me dull, but the most exciting things I’ve seen all week are the baby courgettes. We have lots and they’re yellow, which makes them almost exotic. I’m told that one courgette plant produces enough fruit to feed a family of four, and we have about five plants, so prepare for a courgette-based diet for the summer.

The strawberries are also coming along. Carey tells me they’re the sweetest strawberries she’s tasted, and there’s one fruit that’s about a day away from perfect ripeness, so whoever does the watering tomorrow can fight for it.

The runner beans are looking statuesque wrapped around their canes, and the tomatoes are full of flowers, so we’ll have plenty for salads in the coming weeks. The salad leaves are looking very healthy and they’re cut-and-come-again varieties, so Eburyites, do pick a few leaves for your lunch. They’ll grow back in no time.

Caroline - BBC Books Editor