Headline figures rarely tell the whole story when it comes to working out how much prices have really increased. Sometimes it’s not how much you’re paying but what you’re actually getting that really matters.

As inflation takes a hold, there are better reasons than ever to move towards self-sufficiency.

Our various salad crops are approaching readiness, and with 23 tomato plants of four different varieties to choose from we’re hoping for plenty to eat, and even more left over for another batch of chutney to see us through the winter.

An early morning picking session bagged us a bumper crop of beans, taking our total for the year so far well beyond what we produced in the whole of last summer, and it appears there are still more to come.

This is what the 15 jars of our finished apple jelly looked like. They’re much darker than crab apple jelly, which is a light pink. The rich red brown of this batch is most likely down to the variety of apple we picked.

We finally got time to make jelly with the apples this weekend. They take a little bit of planning, but jellies are easy, and so long as you can spare a couple of hours on two consecutive days they are an easy weekend project that leaves you with a stash of fruity jam to enjoy at the end.

Self sufficiency doesn’t all have to be about growing your own vegetables, keeping chickens in the garden or screwing a solar panel to your roof. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference.

We had our first proper harvest at the weekend. Three types of beans: French, runner and broad. Not a huge amount of any variety, but enough to cook ourselves a three-bean risotto for dinner.

We had a bumper picking session, and the most prolific crop wasn’t even one we were after. After a hunt for more elder flowers for a second batch of champagne yeilds few returns, we come upon an early apple tree ripe for picking.

The elderflower champagne is too dangerous to keep in a cupboard. So far we’ve had 18 explosions, which come with such force that they are shredding the seals on our bottles. As such we’ve come to the conclusion - reluctantly - that it’s time to start again, from scratch.