Here at River Cottage on Achill island in County Mayo on Ireland's West Coast we are enjoying a fabulous crop of organic carrots, broad beans, shallots and lettuce. The big success story have been the carrots - fabulous big long ones without attack from insect or disease, due to our use of bio-fleece which has increased our yields and quality of veg four-hundred-fold.

We also recently adopted another wild starving kitten whom we named 'Timmy' and has now almost stopped spitting when we feed him. As yet we haven't managed to catch him or pick him up - it's a lengthy process gaining the trust of a wild cat even if you are the hand that feeds. We hope 'Timmy' will not have to be re-named 'Tammy' once we manage to check.

Take care - I'm off to shell the broad beans.