You really have to enjoy gardening to embrace it as a hobby, and those of us that do become part of what you might call ‘the magic circle,’ a very superior kind of old boys/old girls’ association, in which honours are earned more by the number of blisters on your hands than anything else.

Preparing ground for the planting of flowers and particularly vegetables can be rewarding, but also a bit heartbreaking if the soil isn’t quite right. Not quite right in my experience means soggy and lumpy (a bit like Yorkshire pudding gone wrong) when there is no end to the rain in sight, which means you can’t sow …..