Pulling the leeks in today’s gale I am soaked in minutes as water streams down my face and soaks my trousers with winter-cold rain. At first it feels as if I am being assaulted, then I get used to it and give myself up to the power of the storm. Out here, high on the granite plateau of Dartmoor, where the extreme climate is different from the rest of Devon the weather is always in control. And it can be very destructive.

Once I am totally wet, I start to really enjoy the ride. I pull some leeks, ‘Bleu de Solaise’- an old French variety with blue grey leaves which turn even darker after a frost. And I thank my lucky stars that I chose to grow this hardy type; these Leeks are perfectly happy to over winter in the ground, even in atrocious weather, which is good, because bad…