Adrienne chose to ignore them both and turned to everyone with her sunshine smile. ‘Now I’m going to get on my hobby horse.’ She crossed over to the nearest bed and plucked a couple of pea pods from the plants trailing up cones of intertwined canes. She handed them around.

‘Open them up. Taste.’

Everyone did as they were told – they wouldn’t have dared otherwise. Adrienne had a certain commanding presence about her that made you want to please her. Hannah popped open the bright-green shiny pod. Immediately, the fragrant grassy scent burst out and when she popped one tiny pea into her mouth to taste its sweet, clean flavour, an involuntary ‘mmm’ escaped.

‘Good?’ Adrienne asked her.

‘Yes,’ she replied, surprised by just how good it tasted. ‘I’ve never eaten a raw pea before. Absolutely delicious. They’re my favourite vegetable anyway.’

‘There’s none better, I promise you. You can’t beat fresh just-picked produce.’

She turned to everyone else, the group having arranged itself into a natural semi-circle around her, and then bent and dug a hand in the soil, letting the grains trickle through her fingers.

‘This is where the magic happens.’

Obediently, Hannah, like everyone else, stared down at the dark soil.

‘Everything we eat comes from the soil; the plants we grow to feed our animals, that we harvest to eat, all of it is dependent on looking after our soil. The quality of the soil determines the quality of our food. Looking after the soil, the animals, the plants in the most sustainable, environmentally friendly way is important for the planet.

‘I believe that we have a part to play, encouraging biodiversity, organic farming, and sustainability. People have become too used to cheap food that is not being grown or produced to proper standards. Here at Killorgally we use seasonal and locally grown produce wherever we can, and when we can’t we aim to buy from sustainable and ethical sources. For example, all our spices come from a family supplier in India; in fact, the owner came here on a cookery course ten years ago and was inspired to set up his spice company.

‘Everything we grow is organic and aimed at increasing biodiversity. For example,’ she turned to Meredith with a smile, ‘you know we grow basil. There are approximately 150 varieties of basil. We have fifty-five. Still a way to go, but we’re trying to do our bit for biodiversity. Among our pigs, sheep, cattle, and hens, we keep a number of rare breeds.’

She grinned at them. ‘You’ll find I bang on about it quite a lot. It’s been said by some of my beloved family that I’m a bit of bore, but once you work with these ingredients, I tell you, you’ll never look back. Now, come meet Daisy and Co.’