I love Christmas. A bonus is a mixed European heritage, which means I have 2 Christmasses – one Nordic, one British, with beautiful Christmas food and compulsory viewing of Dinner for One. I will happily spend hours in the kitchen making Norwegian biscuits and planning our meals – which can get slightly complicated as one of us is a vegetarian and the other very much isn’t…

Usually Christmas has involved quite a bit of travel, but this year we stayed put. One of the highlights has been that nearly every vegetable we’ve eaten was home grown – this is the first year I’ve been able to say that. Early today we wandered up to the allotment through the drizzle to pick kale, purple sprouting broccoli, leeks, my micro-brussels and a swede. The potatoes, onions and squash have been in store at home for a while.

No food miles, perfectly fresh food and an immense feeling of satisfaction.

Tomorrow I’ll be sneaking compost into the flat to warm up for sowing onions and chillies. For now, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I hope you have a peaceful and happy Christmas.