The hungry gap is almost upon us. The last of the stored root vegetables are becoming wrinkled and dry. We are eating our way through the remains of the pumpkins in a race to beat the mice, which have discovered them in the tool shed. The kalettes and kales in the outdoor vegetable beds have almost been stripped bare, having provided for meals over the winter and we have just finished the last of the Pink Fir Apple potatoes. And yet, as the tide goes out on the winter veg, there is a countermovement in the polytunnel. A green tsunami that has been building for the last couple of weeks, is now breaking and every meal features leafy greens of one kind or another.

It is five years since we got the polytunnel and it has proven to be just as useful for overwintering crops, as it is for the customary hot climate vegetables – tomatoes, aubergines, peppers and more – that we initially bought it for. The first few years saw me experimenting with various winter crops, but for the last three I have settled on a reliable selection of winter salads and herbs to be eaten in the darkest months, and a selection of oriental greens and brassicas intended for consumption right now.