And you think your garden’s small?

Last summer, while working on my book The Edible Balcony (out April 7 next year published by Kyle Cathie, folks), I discovered a tiny balcony in north London that rather blew my mind. I’ve always thought I had a small garden – 50 foot by about 15 – and constantly whinge about the fact to anyone within earshot, but this 9 x 6 foot ledge is positively Lilliputian. With a heady dash of Heath Robinson thrown in.

As someone who struggles to bend a coat hanger into a different shape sucessfully I find the fact that someone has managed to rig up a self-watering system from their roof via bathroom piping, an old olive oil barrel and floorboards found in skips completely dumbfounding. The micro gardener on high is Mark Ridsdill-Smith and his recent announcement that he’s grown £669-worth of food there seemed bonkers enough to be worth talking to him about. So I coaxed him away from his microgreens for half an hour for this piece in last week’s  The Sunday Telegraph – just don’t mention the runner beans.