Your beech tree has actually achieved around the average lifespan for the species. Beech trees aren’t as long-lived as many other forest trees.

We’ve had two nice days in a row. We get around 17°C by day and around 8° by night. It’s very pleasant sitting outside in the sun (UV3). I have to shift one ton of coal that’s just been delivered then cut up some logs. My Sungold cherry tomatoes are bravely resisting the blight and cropping very well for now. You never see them in the shops on account of their habit of splitting easily, but I reckon they’re the tastiest of the lot. I have summer sprouting broccoli, some nice kale, lots of salad leaves and plenty of spuds to harvest, as well as a spectacularly huge crop of flat-leaf parsley. Some very poor, windy weather last month saw off my French beans and runner beans prematurely. I’m sowing broad beans later. It can be too windy for them in winter but I’m having a go for the first time ever. The purple sprouting and parsnips are looking very promising. And my spring greens are up. My freezer is full of blanched broad beans.

Last week in Madeira, where it never goes below about 10°C, we discovered the delights of pitanga, aka Surinam cherry or Brazilian cherry. I’ve brought some seeds back from the ones I stole and ate raw from the B&B garden. There isn’t much hope for them here, less still any prospect of fruit, but I’ll try anything. They make the most amazing jam with a lovely grown-up flavour. I have a young loquat plant that I grew from a seed I saved from a breakfast in Florence in May. It’ll be big enough to plant out in spring. I have high hopes for it.