07-Aug-08 Remembering as a child picking fruit and vegetables from my parent’s vegetable patch was always the thrill of summer holidays. My mother would then make raspberry, gooseberry and plum pies. What a treat.

Having just finished building a home in Hydra but not having yet fixed the garden, we made space for a small veggie garden to begin with. Getting my children involved by throwing seeds in rows and teaching them to leave enough space in between so things wouldn’t suffocate each other, was a real pleasure.

Not knowing how the soil would be and not using any kind of fertilisers, we were amazed at how everything started to grow. By April/May time we were swamped with lettuces galore, peppers, spring onions and radishes.

We chopped a large wine barrel in half and filled it with soil. It is now blooming with fresh herbs, mint, basil and parsley all in a matter of a month. All ready to be picked fresh and thrown into the saucepan for cooking.

Every evening during the hot weather, my son (only four years old) takes hold of the elastic hose and waters the vegetable patch.

Astonishingly, we are completely overloaded with tomatoes and have had to literally give them away! ‘Vlita’ (a summer wild green) has been chopped down twice and still reproducing, aubergines and courgettes are dropping, what a healthier way to live.

It’s such a joy seeing my children pick up the wicker basket from the kitchen and go to collect whatever’s ready and ripe. Coming back with such enthusiasm on their faces is just something that makes me think how such simple things in life are really appreciated.