Fresh from the plot

Early mornings are a treat for Rekha this June, as she begins to enjoy her first crops. But she's always looking ahead, and now is the perfect time to start next year's strawberries

- Rekha

Finally, summer has begun. All that hard work toiling and turning the soil in the autumn months, before sowing and planting out in spring, really starts to come to fruition as we enter June.

Daybreak starts always put a smile on my face. The silence has already been broken by the dawn chorus and as I make my way along the path, my eyes dart over the lush green growth of the potato plants catching the morning light through the trees.

Passing the towering bean pole structures, I glimpse pink and purple flowers. In a month's time they'll be laden with French bean pods, with more to come. When I reach the greenhouse and open the door, I'm greeted by a waft of warm, spice-scented air from the pepper and chilli plants. But I'm firmly fixed on the emerging aubergine flowers and think back to last season's disastrous crop-surely I won't have bad luck two years in a row? Fingers crossed!

Just for a moment, I sit back and enjoy the tranquil view before the sun rises over the tree line and my workday begins.

Watering and weeding awaits. But first, I gather a few of my early potatoes for lunch. However small a harvest, it's seasonal and fresh, and that's what my garden means to me.

How I grow Strawberries