06:39

My alarm wasn’t set and I got up at 5:25.

Each day is an odyssey.

Claiming chickpeas:

1. Pull chickpea plants and tie into sheaves.

2. Leave in sun, turning assiduously, to ensure maximum drying.

3. On the hottest fiercest day strip pods from plants using leather gloves. Preferably in shade.

4. When stripped into suitable container - e.g. Lidl’s leaf bag - trample and stamp with main force the pods and associated litter. Turn pods and tramp again. Then again. Then again. In 32c heat preferably. Humid pods won’t split.

5. Rig your winnowing plant. Tether Lidl wet dry vac to ageing Black and Decker workmate and set to blow without bag or filter.

6. Winnow tramped peas and litter and unopened pods by positioning in blower blast delicately.

7. Empty collecting bucket and repeat.

8. Repeat process in big seed tray to blow out remaining chaff.

9. Use big tarpaulin to gather in escapees.

10. Collect and secure all and find another day to trample those remaining pods out.

11. Retire to pre-warmed room for iced wine.

12. Savour chickpeas over winter months.

Photo of sheaves chickpeas from earlier