Having recently noted the failure of my step brother T and the Mrs, collectively the younger generation, to know what a potato plant looks like, I suggest to my father that I might include broad beans in his supper tonight. "All gone" he says. "Really?" I responded "who said so?" er...it was your step brother T.
My mental inventory of the last time I picked broad beans in my father's garden here in Shipston makes me suspicious. And it seems that young T thinks that broad beans also grow in plastic bags at Tesco. I return after just a few minutes with twenty pods which means that there must be at least fifty beans - easily enough for supper.
Moreover, admittedly hidden among the raspberry bushes to further confuse young City dwelling Guardian reading professionals, there are another three untapped plants.
Next up is the issue of a surfeit of raspberries and strawberries. Quite simply we have too many for my father and I to deal with. Another crumble now beckons as we are now enjoying the red fruit with almost every meal and we need a bit of variety.