Eat up your Greens

"Let us cultivate our garden."
Voltaire, Candide

This is my friend Liz's allotment. It is amazing and I'm ashamed at my lack of knowledge of anything to do with cultivation - especially since my parents looked after a large garden with black currants, gooseberries, rhubarb and masses of roses. What was I doing at the time and why didn't I pay more attention?