June has to be the most exciting month for the vegetable garden and I was thrilled to receive one of the greatest gurus in grow and cook to my vegetable garden at Sharpham Park, Sarah Raven (www.sarahraven.com). If I am really being honest with you, I am more of a provider than a great cook, so it was a treat to be able to hear from Sarah what she would do with the lovage from our herb garden and why she loves garlic chives in salads. Most importantly its what she does to those magic mini artichokes for leisurely pickings - to know the secret you either have to be me, or read her book!

In our garden now we have the Martock Broad Bean, an upright young fellow that was first given to me by Penny Hobhouse, who is the heroine and guru of English gardens. Penny gave me 6 beans, rather like Jack and the beanstalk, and said ‘plant these and they will bring you pleasure’. They have indeed, and from my six I now have grown around 500 plants this year and will harvest… well a lot. We also have a thriving Fragolini, Frais de bois or just wild strawberry crop, one of the earliest and most delicious of all fruits - Perfect to cast in the top of a champagne glass, to feast on in the vegetable garden, or to scatter on fresh ice cream with Sharpham Park spelt granola. Back in the farm, calving has been trying this season and we have sadly lost three. The good news is that we now have seven new members of the herd of White Park and hopefully more to follow. Henry, our new young bull, who lost his mother, has had to be hand fed, and is really coming on well.

I hope you will enjoy these summer recipes while you relax with a nice glass of chilled something…