Earlier this year Tim and I had a call from a BBC producer. Would we like to appear on another programme that wanted to feature permaculture? We are always interested in deepening understanding of the subject, but also wary. It is so easy to trivialise permaculture and wrap it up as an alternative form of organic gardening. We asked how long we would get and what was the angle?

A dear friend of mine who spent much time in the beautiful Western Isles of Scotland once told me a story about the Queen. HMS Britannia was on its annual summer voyage with its royal passengers and stopped at a small bay one quiet afternoon. The Queen disembarked and waved away her bodyguards and other familiars and set off for a rare walk on her own. Her path took her to a small cottage where she saw its owner gardening. The Queen greeted the woman and they stopped to chat over the garden fence. Then she asked if she could come in and have a cup of tea.

Ah, autumn is well and truly here. The gooseberries, currants, greengages, plums and figs have all been eaten. We’ve feasted on berries and succulent fruits like Brown Turkey figs and Oullin’s golden gages, as exotic as mangoes. Though the evenings are getting shorter, the pleasure isn’t over yet. This is one of the real joys of the permaculture garden; you can continue to keep reaping the benefits late into the year.