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It occurred to me that readers outside the UK, or even under a certain age (say, 40ish) might not recognise the reference to "The Good Life" in my title. Well, it's a BBC situation comedy that I used to watch with my mum back in the 1970s, very much a product of its time. (It was known in the USA as "Good Neighbors", the IMDB informs me, though what they made of such a distinctively English comedy I'm not sure.

Starring Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal as Tom and Barbara Good, and Penelope Keith and the late, lamented Paul Eddington (later to star in "Yes Minister") as their snooty neighbours Jerry and Margo Leadbetter, it told the story of a couple who opted for "self sufficiency in Surbiton", to the horror of said snooty neighbours. It was beautifully written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey. Tom and Barbara had a lovely relationship, sexy but clear-eyed about each other's blind spots, and Jerry and Margo had to go through a steep learning curve, from protesting about the effect piglets next door would have on the price of their property to offering the idealistic Goods important moral and, occasionally, practical support (The sight of Margo, dresed in green wellies and souwester, turning up to deliver piglets and scolding the productive sow 'Fourteen is quite enough!" will linger in my memory.)

Our own, less extreme, version of TGL began when we turned over our front garden to veg and fruit production. Our neighbours were used to our eccentricities, but they rallied round magnificently when we ordered a ton of horse manure and it was dumped, quite literally, in the middle of the road (we live in a cul-de-sac so we needed all the help we could get!)

Here is our front garden - yes, it's a little unusual. In the foreground, just behind the pots, are raspberry canes and, behind them, a cloud of asparagus fern which we are now allowing to have its head after cropping well throughout May and early June. On the extreme left is a productive James Grieve apple tree planted in memory of my mother-in-law who died a few years ago and was renowned for her apple crumble! At the pointed end of the triangular bed, our baby beetroot is coming along nicely. We have several other trees - fig, damson, Conference pear, cherry, almond, olive and peach. A lot to pack into such a small area. I'll post more views if people are interested!

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