You can hang out at home with some music or a good book, scarfing down home made ice lollies and granitas, or sipping some cloudy lemonade or ginger beer. If you have outside space then a few tea lights twinkling away in old jam jars are all you need to sit out on warm evenings.

Or head to any of the parks with a cheap rug or mat and a home made picnic. I know there are a few park poseur types who spend a fortune on blankets, hampers and fancy plates, but it can all be done on a shoestring and to hell with keeping up with the Joneses. The only thing that’s really worth spending a little extra on is a good vacuum flask that keeps things piping hot (or icy cool, if you prefer) and is leak-proof and fairly robust. Have a quiet one with the papers, or add plenty of friends and a few beers, it’s perfect either way.

When the weather’s warmer you can take off and do loads of different free walks, ranging from a short slacker-ish ramble to a full-on yomp, depending upon your preference. You can also get out of town for very little with various special travel offers and off-peak advance fares. I recently had a return trip to Brighton for £5, which made for a perfect day out, including a wander down the seafront and some loafing about on the beach.

While the big ticketed day and weekend festivals get a lot of press, there are also hundreds of free events to get yourself along to, with happenings to suit every taste. There’s always something free to try down at the Southbank, and there are plenty of outdoor fairs and festivals that have heaps of stalls and entertainments and cost nothing to attend, from Lewisham People’s Day to Notting Hill Carnival.

The main collections of most museums and art galleries are free, and many regularly have late evenings which are filled with interesting creative programmes (the easiest thing is to sign up for their mailing lists). Or head out to some or free or subsidised gigs, outdoor theatre, or even the BBC Proms (prices start at around £5).

Who cares if we’re broke, let’s have fun anyway.

The plum romas are not quite there yet, so I can’t tell you if they’re as good as people say. We’re still getting 2 or 3 French beans each week from the dwarf bean plant, and the cut and come again salad pot containing land cress, rocket and baby leaf spinach is on its third round. I’m also sowing sequentially in little pots to make sure we have fresh supplies of parsley and basil.

The cucumber plant went outside. It is very healthy and has given us three chunky cucumbers during June. Here’s what it looked like last month:

People say you should peel outdoor cucumbers to remove the tiny spines, but I’ve found that giving it a scrub with an ordinary pot scrubber does the trick perfectly and with the minimum of waste – the skins are completely edible that way. The baby lettuce round the bottom of the pot helps to retain water, and the peas seem to be helping the cucumber and lettuce grow stronger too. Three crops in one pot, quite handy for a small garden with almost no topsoil.

The courgette not only got too big for the windowsill, it outgrew the mini greenhouse too. Here’s what it looked like in June, when it started giving us two green courgettes per week. It hasn’t stopped since. The small flowerpot is sunk into the compost, which sends water straight to the roots on hot days, rather than evaporating off. We should be OK if the proposed hosepipe ban happens at least.

I did originally say that I wasn’t going to grow potatoes because it’s very hard to make it cost effective – it’s my first year here and there’s no home made compost, and the combination of large container, bought compost and seed potatoes usually works out as more expensive than buying the spuds in a shop. Fortunately I was given some free seed potatoes and a potato grow bag by Beau’s Mum, who had a spare set after a bulk buy:

This is what they looked like directly after their final ‘earth up’. I’m looking forward to a bumper crop of Charlotte salad potatoes some time during July, and there’s also a way to recycle this year’s compost by sowing enriching plants in it during the Autumn and letting it overwinter, so there should be very little waste.

Quite a lot of people have given me free seeds or done swaps with me, so there’s plenty to try out this year, including a pot of borlotto and runner beans, and some rocket. Here they are as baby plants:

I’m also making good use of the things that we find, Womble-stylee, things that the previous folks left behind. This includes a shed full of pots, planks, perspex sheets, plastic window boxes and hanging baskets. The window boxes turned out to be good for lettuces, rocket, radishes, round carrots, pak choi and mini cabbages. Not sure how the turnips and beetroot are going to turn out, we’ll see at the end of July.

All the hanging baskets needed was a water reservoir and a £1 pack of gel retainer liners and hey presto, salad bowl hanging baskets with lettuce, chicory, spring onions, and edible marigolds and trailing nasturtiums:

So that’s what happened in June, and I’ll sort out a July update next week. What have you been growing?

Fruit: bilberries, blueberries, cherries, currants (black, red and white), elderflowers, gooseberries, loganberries, raspberries, strawberries and wild strawberries. Possibly also some last sticks of summer rhubarb. Imported apricots, figs, melons, nectarines, pinapples, watermelon.

Vegetables: aubergines, basil, baby turnips, baby beetroot, broad beans (finishing soon), broccoli (summer calabrese), celery, chard (baby leaf for salads), chives, coriander, courgettes and courgette flowers, cucumbers, dill, fennel, fresh garlic, globe artichokes, green beans, horseradish, kohlrabi, lamb’s lettuce, lettuce, mint, new potatoes, parsley, peas, peppers, radishes, rocket, samphire, sorrel, spinach, spring onions, summer cabbage, summer squash, tomatoes, watercress. Technically the asparagus season ended last week at the summer solstice, but you may find a few last spears of the British good stuff if you look.

Fish and shellfish: black bream, brown crab (hen), brown and rainbow trout, cuttlefish, early plaice and sole, herring, lobster, mackerel, Mediterranean sardines, prawns, pike, pilchards, pollack, scallops, Scottish squid, sea bass, sea trout, shrimps, signal crayfish, spider crab, young salmon (grilse). Some say this is the peak time for crab, lobster, mackerel, prawns and shrimps.

Meat, poultry and game: Not a special month for any particular meat or game.

Cheeses: Stinking Bishop, British goats’ cheese. Crottin de Chavignol, Saint Remy, Tomme Vaudoise, Valencay. Buffalo mozzarella.

The windowsill garden got somewhat too big for its boots and some of it had to be moved outdoors and into bigger pots. In the last couple of days we’ve had home grown cherry tomatoes, baby leaf spinach and chard, early peas, broad beans, cucumber, courgette, mixed baby leaf lettuce, spring onions, radishes, parsley, coriander, spicy purple basil, and broccoli leaves (eaten as cabbage). I’m getting the hang of cut and come again and sequential sowing now, so hopefully we’ll have a fresh meal for two people out of the garden on most days for the rest of the summer. Not bad for a back yard with no top soil, and a slightly lazy gardener!

We’ve mostly been having salads, or huge helpings of veg with our dinners, but Beau’s also cooked up some lovely fruity puddings as well with bought fruit.

Have you been growing your own fruit or veggies? How’s it going? Even if you haven’t been gardening, you can still have a little trip to the market at the weekend. What are you going to cook?

What’s in season this month?

Fruit: blackberries, cherries, elderflowers, gooseberries, raspberries, redcurrants, rhubarb, strawberries, tayberries. Imported figs, and some mangoes.

Vegetables: asparagus, baby carrots, broad beans, broccoli, chervil, chives, courgettes and flowers, cucumbers, fennel, globe artichokes, green beans, horseradish, lettuce, mangetout, new potatoes, peas, peppers, radishes, rocket and other salad leaves, samphire, spinach, sorrel, spring onions, tomatoes, watercress. Imported aubergines.

Fish and shellfish: black bream, brown and rainbow trout, brown shrimp, cuttlefish, first fresh kippers (run until Oct), grey mullet, haddock, hake, john dory, lobster, mackerel, pollack, prawns, sardines, sea bass, sea trout, signal crayfish, spider crab, whitebait, wild salmon.

Meat, poultry and game: hogget lamb (aged half way between a lamb and a sheep), Welsh lamb.

Cheeses: ewe’s milk cheeses, Stinking Bishop, British goats’ cheese, Farmhouse Cheddar. Bouille, Crottin de Chavignol, Saint Marcellin, Sancerre.

Tonight I’m cooking spicy prawns with stir fried home grown green beans, spring onions, spinach and mustard greens. That’ll be served up with lemon couscous with fresh coriander, mint and parsley. I’m starving now just thinking about it…

What are you going to cook?

Meanwhile, we’ve had quite a few plates of salad, loads of herbs on our pizza and pasta and some more beans, and there’s an outside windowbox of goodies now too.

The usual suspects:

The windowbox of salads: 

Herbs going wild:

A cucumber plant that had to be repotted (with a few added peas, baby lettuce, pea shoots etc), which is already growing baby cucumbers:

Flowering tomato plants:

Chilis and sweet peppers making buds:

Indoor spinach, land cress and rocket ready to eat:

Beans, radishes and salad already eaten:

And say hello to my little friend – a fully loaded mini greenhouse….

…complete with monster courgette plant:

Are you growing any herbs or veggies at the moment? Any success stories or tips?

So, what’s good to eat right now?

Fruit: rhubarb, strawberries. Imported Alphonso mangoes.

Vegetables: Asian greens, British asparagus, baby broad beans, cabbage (green), chervil, chives, cucumbers, Jersey Royal potatoes, lovage, lettuce, mint, morel mushrooms, parsley, radishes, rocket, samphire, sea kale, sorrel, spinach, spring greens, spring onions, summer savoury, watercress, wild garlic. Imported Hass avocado.

Fish and shellfish: brown shrimp, crab, cuttlefish, haddock, mackerel, pollack, prawns, sardines, sea bass, sea trout, signal crayfish, Spring lobster, wild salmon.

Meat, poultry and game: duck eggs, new season lamb, poussin (Spring chicken).

Cheeses: ewe’s milk cheeses, Stinking Bishop, Bonchester, English soft cheeses, Sharpham, Wheatland. Bleu d’Auvergene, Chabichou, Reblochon. Pecorino (early).

Can’t wait to get down to the market for some fresh Pecorino, to serve up with my home grown parsley and baby broad beans. What are you going to cook?

You can easily spend hours here wandering from stall to stall, taking in the atmosphere and visiting the excellent surrounding cafes, pubs and restaurants. The only drawback is that you can also end up spending a lot more money than you thought you were going to. How can you enjoy a day at a place like Borough Market if you’re travelling on a shoestring or feeling the pinch in the run-up to payday?

I’ll happily agree that some things are worth spending the extra on, whether that’s Freedom Foods, Fairtrade goods, or good old expertise and panache. For example, the organic small-estate and cooperative coffees from the Monmouth Coffee Co cost about the same as drinks from the big chains, but to me they represent better value and I think they taste better too.

If you go around all the stalls and shops, chances are you’ll be offered enough free tasters to make up a substantial mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack if you time your visit right, although it’s best not to be too cheeky. If the weather’s good you can buy yourself a delicious take-away snack or picnic ingredients to eat in the grounds of Southwark Cathedral or Tate Modern, rather than going for a full-price sit-down meal somewhere. A perfect way to end the day is to head to the Old Vic or Shakespeare’s Globe for a spot of theatre, both are great venues too.

When it comes to shopping, I have two favourite stalls for bargains. The first is fruit and veg merchants Elsey & Bent, who are a little less chi-chi than some of the other greengrocers at Borough and consequently have lower prices. They also stock plenty of seasonal foods, which tend to become cheaper when large amounts hit the markets. On a similar note, the £1-table at the Pays D’Auge Fromages stall is a don’t-miss part of the market. They sell off ripe French cheeses that are still perfectly good for eating, and many foodies would say that’s when they’re are at their best. Happy eating!

Borough Market opening hours: Thursdays: 11am – 5pm, Fridays: 12 noon – 6pm, Saturdays: 8am – 5pm.
www.boroughmarket.org.uk

This article by Penny Golightly originally appeared on the lastminute.com blog.

Fruit: early strawberries, rhubarb, last apples and pears from store. Imported Alphonso mangoes towards the end of the month.

Vegetables: asian greens, cabbage (green), chervil, chicory, chives, cucumbers, early asparagus, early Jersey Royal potatoes, lettuce and other salad leaves, morel mushrooms, nettles, purple sprouting broccoli, radishes, sea kale, sorrel, spring greens, spring onions, watercress, wild garlic.

Fish and shellfish: brown crab, brown shrimp, cockles, john dory, langoustine, lobster, red mullet, pollack, prawns, native oysters, sea bass, sea trout, wild salmon.

Meat, poultry and game: Spring lamb, Welsh lamb.

Cheeses: early British fresh-flavoured goats cheese, ewe’s milk cheeses.

Can’t wait for the first Jersey Royals. I’m also looking forward to buying a crate of mangoes and having them for breakfast, for dessert (try them sliced into a rice pudding with a couple of green cardamom pods), in salads, in smoothies and just maybe in a cocktail or two with some lime and coconut. Mmmmm.

What are you going to cook?

If you want to be a bon viveur on a budget, I suspect that eating well is probably important to you. I’m a big fan of writing varied and delicious menus, planning a balanced diet, shopping within a budget, buying seasonal foods, planning ahead, using things up before they go off, and deliberately making extra food on one day to save time later (either for the freezer or for planned lefovers). I hate needlessly throwing food away as it’s money down the drain that could have been better spent on something else. Like gin, lipstick, silk stockings or other necessities and essentials.

In the UK we throw away an estimated 8.3 million tonnes of food per year. While some of this is made up of inedible vegetable peelings, banana skins and bones, the majority of it is foodstuffs that were once edible – therefore most of this is wasted food. We waste food for two main reasons: firstly because we have cooked or prepared too much of it, and secondly because we’ve allowed food to go off before it could be used. Love Food Hate Waste believe that the average household wastes over £50 per month in this way. That’s a lot of gin and lipstick, my friends.

So in addition to the usual Golightly tips, you might like to treat yourself to a little trip over to their website as well. They have some excellent recipes for using up leftovers and some really handy tips for portion control and food storage. Plus the first UK-resident person to write ‘no freezer-burn here’ in the comments box below will bag themselves a mini collection of LFHW recipe cards and a pasta portion measurer.

Things are improving in the UK as growers extend growing seasons with polytunnels, coldframes and greenhouses, and try out new varieties of plants. Keep an eye out for any of the fresh homegrown foods you can get hold of, including:

Fruit: early/forced rhubarb, apples and pears from store.

Vegetables: asian greens, cabbage (green), chicory, endive, kale, leeks, nettle tops, parsley, parsnips, purple sprouting broccoli, sea kale, sorrel, spring greens, spring onions, swedes, wild garlic, winter varieties of lettuce.

Fish and shellfish: bass, brown crab, clams, cockles, pollack, young mackerel, mussels, rock oysters, sardines, scallops, sea trout, wild salmon.

Meat, poultry and game: not the top season for any meats in particular.

Cheeses: Cotherstone, Stilton. Comté, Roquefort.

I think I’ll be cooking up some bashed neeps (swedes) and wilted curly kale to serve with burgers or sausages, some noodle soup with Asian greens and shellfish, and some sprouting broccoli baked with eggs and garlic.

What are you going to cook? Do you have any favourite recipes?