What better way to hail the start of summer than building a good old Sussex trug to store all that garden produce in. I went on this great course last week organised by Plumpton College at the Netherfield Centre, where they show you how to build a trug from start to finish. I’ve been laughing about it with friends since I booked it … it’s like I’ve picked the most obscure course I could find, and I’ll admit to a brief ‘what was I thinking of?’ moment when I entered the barn at 10am last Friday, but I can’t recommend it enough! Lovely way to spend the day, really meditative as you wittle away at the willow and build the shape. It helped that we had a fantastic tutor, a real craftsman who takes great pride in what he does, loves keeping his craft alive, and hasn’t even hit 40 yet.

Now if I could just stop those damn slugs from eating my tomato plants, I might have something to put in it - you didn’t think that was all homegrown in the photo did you?