The last of the figs - plenty in the shops though. This week’s kitchen diary… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

A rainy morning in Ilkley, Yorkshire. So snuggled up at Betty’s Tea Rooms with avocado toast and the awesome Elif Shafak’s There are Rivers in the Sky.

At last.

This week’s kitchen diary… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

This week’s column. Summer Puddings… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

This week’s column. Roast summer vegetables… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

This week’s column… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

Rain pattering on the kitchen skylights. Every leaf jiggling with delight.

This week’s column… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

A warm breeze is rustling the leaves of the fig tree. There is a promise of rain. 🙏

Pottering in the garden today, I came across a bunch of deep pink cyclamen hiding in the undergrowth. I don’t even remember planting them.

This week’s column. observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

The single roses planted last winter are coming into bloom. The snow white Kew Gardens is out already and the Dunwich Rose is in bud. I wait patiently for Spinosissima Falkland, the softest pink and the most recently planted.

This week’s column… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

Cooling down. This week’s column… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

Caught the White Garden at Sissinghurst at its most perfect this week. A heavenly tangle of pure white flowers and cool green leaves.

This week’s kitchen diary. observer.co.uk/style/nigel-...

Kitchen Diary… slow cooked vegetables for summer observer.co.uk/style/ukrain...

This week’s Kitchen Diary… observer.co.uk/style/ukrain...

Midweek treat… observer.co.uk/style/ukrain...

Today, a ‘lost’ rose (never flowered, weak and sulking) has come good. The velvet petalled Munstead Wood* is alive and well, full of buds and glossy leaves. Welcome back. *now sadly retired by its breeders.

Green room treats at Charleston Literary Festival and I could not have been happier.

Aubergine toasts… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

Souvenir Madame Leonie Viennot from the study window. Planted twenty-five years ago, her perfume is that of ripe peaches.

This week’s diary… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

A story of school dinners observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

This week’s Kitchen Diary observer.co.uk/style/nigel-...

This week’s Kitchen Diary… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

Today, my weekly column moves home. My Kitchen Diary can now be found at observer.co.uk

Tulip time. ‘Brown Sugar’ standing tall, scented, like a wallflower. ‘Prinses Irene’ is glowing orange. The apricot and magenta ‘Slawa’ and the ever reliable‘Queen of Night’ coming up behind.

My last column for the Guardian website. (The Observer launches its own site this week.) www.theguardian.com/food/2025/ap...

Tulip Brown Sugar. Striped snail.

This weeks column. Good for a blustery spring day. www.theguardian.com/food/2025/ap...

This week’s column… www.theguardian.com/food/2025/ap...

Midweek treat. Brown butter chocolate friands… www.theguardian.com/food/2025/ma...

My column for you. The taste of home. www.theguardian.com/food/2025/ma...

A front lawn, speckled with violets.

No column from me this week (or next). Spending time sorting out the garden. Mulching, pruning, planning and planting. (Mostly planning if I’m honest.) The sunshine has brought the crocuses out.

Back from a long holiday to find primroses in bloom.

This week’s column… www.theguardian.com/food/2025/ma...

This week’s column… www.theguardian.com/food/2025/fe...

This week’s column. www.theguardian.com/food/2025/fe...

Clearing the dead ivy from the garden wall. Once the robins, blue tits and black birds have feasted on all the exposed insects in the crevices and every last bit of ivy is removed, we will plant anew.

Gingercake and oranges. A midweek treat. www.theguardian.com/food/2025/fe...

Today has been mulch day. Tiny cyclamen tucked up and cosy in their deep top dressing.

Frosty morning, winter sunshine, church bells, luminous moss.

A single stem of white hyacinth on the kitchen windowsill. The knocking of the woodpecker on the trunk of a neighbour’s tree. It feels like we have turned a corner.

Moonrise in a Wood, Franklin Booth.

A golden pie for a dark day. My column for you… www.theguardian.com/food/2025/ja...

About as succinct as it gets