I'm not here to defend turnips, I want to talk tops. A month ago I went to a Korean restaurant with the express desire to eat a lot of kimchi (fermented vegetables). I ordered three pickles – the traditional version made with Chinese cabbage, one with radishes and one made predominately from turnip greens. I've had kimchi made with turnip roots, but never the greens before. It was a revelation. I dined alone, and well-dressed Korean ladies looked on in surprise. One leaned over and praised my choices. It was a delightful, if slightly odd scenario, and those pickles were so perfect I've dreamed of them since.

Late-flowering bulbs have colour and perfume in abundance, reminding us that the season is not yet done

Late last month, I returned from three weeks' travelling. The Cyclamen hederifolium greeted me in the front garden, a telltale signal that the summer was nearly over. It was late Sunday afternoon, with work the next day, so I dropped the bags in the hall and pushed the sliding doors open into the garden. In the time away the garden had shifted its mood. The spiders had woven a lattice-work of webs among the toppling eryngium and verbena, which were sagging under their own weight of seed, while the white Cleome "Helen Campbell" had elongated along their stems to form a city of spires to catch the last of the afternoon light. I was pleased I had added this layer of annuals and, joining them, the Nicotiana sylvestris were standing tall, their evening perfume hanging on the accumulated warmth of a late August day.

Will worktop fit around a gaspipe? Plus I want a cabinet on casters